Tephrosia apollinea

Tephrosia apollinea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Genus:	Tephrosia
Species:	T. apollinea
Binomial name
Tephrosia apollinea (Delile) Link
Distribution by country
Synonyms[1]
Galega apollinea Delile

Tephrosia apollinea is a legume species, native to southwest Asia (the Levant, Arabian Peninsula, Socotra, Iran, Pakistan, northwestern India) and northeast Africa (Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia).^[2][3][4]

The leaflets of the plant are obovate-oblong and equal-sided, and of a silky texture. The fruits (legumes) are typically 1 to 2 in (25 to 51 mm) long and contain six or seven brownish seeds. The species typically grows in areas where the soils are relatively deep, especially in semi-arid and wadi areas, and on terraces and slight inclines and hills.

Tephrosia apollinea is known to be toxic to goats. Although it has been used in Oman and the United Arab Emirates to treat bronchitis, cough, earache, nasal congestion and wounds and bone fractures,^[5] as of 1993 its wider impact on humans had not been assessed. It can be used to make indigo-like dyes, and the leaves and those of other plants are used to make hot drinks by the Bedouin in parts of Sinai and the Negev.