where is it from ?
Indigo spicata is native to Africa, Madagascar, Southern and Southeast Asia, and has naturalized across tropical regions. It was introduced into Java in 1923 as a nitrogen-fixing cover crop for coffee, tea, rubber, oil palm, and sisal plantations (Morton, 1989). According to Morton (1989) cultivation of the plant spread from Java to the Philippines in 1927, but the species was actually first recorded (as I. hendecaphylla) in the country in 1918 (Merrill, 1919). It was introduced to Hawaii prior to 1949; while the species was not included in Hoakasa and Thistle’s 1954 Noxious plants of the Hawaiian Ranges, by 1965 it was known as a good ground cover although not for fodder, and has now naturalized (Morton, 1989; Wagner et al, 1999).
I. spicata was introduced from southern India to Ceylon and was first grown at Peradeniya in 1921 (Sampson, 1928). The species was then introduced from Ceylon to Gainesville, Florida, United States in 1925 as a cover crop and forage plant, and from there was brought to the Neotropics (Morton, 1989). It was introduced into Jamaica in 1933 to smother weeds in orchards, and taken to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, in 1937 for planting as green manure, a soil binder, and forage for cattle, but soon became considered a weed after it was found to have toxic effects on cattle and other grazing animals (Morton, 1989). In 1979, it was collected on the other side of Puerto Rico (Carite) showing a rapid colonization of the island. Nowadays, it is very common and naturalized in Puerto Rico (US National Herbarium). It was present in Guadeloupe by 1935 (US National Herbarium). The first record of the species in Dominica (as Indigofera hartwegii) is from 1989 (Nicholson, 1991), however, a reexamination of this collection showed it to refer to I. hendecaphylla. Despite its invasiveness and reported toxicity, I. spicata continues to be commonly used as a cover crop around the world today.
(reference: http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/79262)
See more information regarding how it got to the United States, see: http://largeanimal.vethospitals.ufl.edu/2014/11/03/creeping-indigo-toxicity/
I. spicata was introduced from southern India to Ceylon and was first grown at Peradeniya in 1921 (Sampson, 1928). The species was then introduced from Ceylon to Gainesville, Florida, United States in 1925 as a cover crop and forage plant, and from there was brought to the Neotropics (Morton, 1989). It was introduced into Jamaica in 1933 to smother weeds in orchards, and taken to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, in 1937 for planting as green manure, a soil binder, and forage for cattle, but soon became considered a weed after it was found to have toxic effects on cattle and other grazing animals (Morton, 1989). In 1979, it was collected on the other side of Puerto Rico (Carite) showing a rapid colonization of the island. Nowadays, it is very common and naturalized in Puerto Rico (US National Herbarium). It was present in Guadeloupe by 1935 (US National Herbarium). The first record of the species in Dominica (as Indigofera hartwegii) is from 1989 (Nicholson, 1991), however, a reexamination of this collection showed it to refer to I. hendecaphylla. Despite its invasiveness and reported toxicity, I. spicata continues to be commonly used as a cover crop around the world today.
(reference: http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/79262)
See more information regarding how it got to the United States, see: http://largeanimal.vethospitals.ufl.edu/2014/11/03/creeping-indigo-toxicity/
