Creeping Indigo

Creeping indigo is a prostrate, mat-forming perennial legume that spreads along the ground from a woody taproot, rooting at nodes as stems trail outward. Stems can extend a metre or more from the crown, forming a dense low mat that smothers surrounding pasture and turf.

Leaves are compound, arranged alternately along the stem, made up of several small oval leaflets covered in fine hairs, giving the foliage a slightly grey-green, silvery appearance. Small pink to salmon-coloured pea-type flowers appear in slender spikes rising from the leaf axils, followed by narrow, curved, hairy seed pods that turn brown and split to release hard seed.

It is a significant weed of pastures, roadsides and turf areas across Queensland and northern New South Wales, with a taproot system that allows it to persist through dry periods and regenerate after slashing or grazing. It flowers and sets seed through the warmer months and can spread readily by seed and creeping stems.

Management relies on preventing seed set, as established plants regrow from the taproot if only the top growth is removed. Repeated control over several seasons is usually needed, combined with maintaining dense, competitive pasture or turf cover to limit reinvasion. Because APVMA registration for this weed is for suppression only, complete eradication with a single treatment is unlikely and follow-up monitoring is important.