It is a type of legume native to south-western Asia (the Levant, Arabian Peninsula, Socotra, Iran, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka) and north-eastern Africa (Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia).

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.

[15] after finding that their previous descriptions "agree in most of their characters and the distinction between typical forms was rather difficult"[15] The full name with authorities under their revised classification is Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers.

[30][31][32] In Saudi Arabia, it has been found scattered among species such as Zilla spinosa, Rhanterium epapposum, Astragalus spinosus, Gymnocarpos decandrum, Achillea fragrantissima and Halothamnus bottae on the edges of desiccated lakes.

[36] In Socotra, an island off the coast of Yemen, it is typically found in the Croton shrubland of lowland plains at altitudes of between sea level and 100 metres on overgrazed soils, along with Cassia holsericea.

[37] In a 2000s analysis of vegetation in the woodlands of northern Socotra, the species was found to coexist with Achyranthus aspera, Ageratum conyzoides, Bidens chinensis, Forsskaolea viridis, Hibiscus vitifolius, Indigofera coerulea, Leucas urticifolia, Setaria adhaerens and Solanum incanum.

[38] Tephrosia purpurea is also found in the United Arab Emirates and in Oman,[11][39] where it inhabits the Jiddat al-Harasis desert and dominates the beds of wadis in mountains such as Jebel Shams.

[40] Tephrosia purpurea is cited as "unpalatable",[41] although the seeds of the plant are reportedly a favourite of sandgrouse inhabiting the scrub-desert of northern Sudan,[25][42] and the butterfly Colias croceus is known to feed on it.

[44] The species is known to be toxic to goats; a study published in the early 1980s revealed that 11 out of 12 goats died after 1 to 40 days of daily oral dosing of Tephrosia purpurea shoots (fresh or dried), and that they displayed adverse reactions to ingesting it such as dyspnoea, weakness of the limbs and joints causing instability in movement, changes in fat composition, catarrhal enteritis, and hemorrhage in the heart, lungs, and intestinal mucosa.

The leaves and the root have been used in traditional medicinal on bronchitis, cough, earache, wounds and bone fractures by herbalists in countries such as Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

[50] Although unpalatable when consumed raw, when boiled the leaves of Tephrosia purpurea and numerous other plants are used to make hot drinks by the Bedouin in parts of Sinai and the Negev.

[51] A chemical analysis found that it contains rotenoids, isolflavones, flavanones, chalcones, and flavones,[52] The chloroform extract of the aerial part of Tephrosia purpurea also revealed seven new 8-prenylated flavonoids, including tephroapollin A-G (1-7).

[53] In 2006, researchers of Oman's Sultan Qaboos University published their findings from a chemical investigation into the leaves in which they found it contained semiglabrin, semigalbrinol, and a new flavanone named apollineanin.

[52] A study of Tephrosia purpurea from the Wadi Ejili, in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, focusing on seeds collected from specimens of the traditional medicinal plant explored its exogenous production of silver nanoparticles.