LEGUMINOSiE. LXXIX. Indigofera; 



207 



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>: 



m 



TS' 



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V 



28 I. PEREGRiNA (D. C. prod. 2. p. 224.) stem terete, fili- 

 form, glabrous, sufFruticose ; leaflets 3, about equal in size 

 and shape, oblong-linear, acute, pubescent above, dotted and 



; flowers 2, axillary, nearly sessile ; 



of Egypt, in Elephant Island, and of the East Indies, 

 probably red. Very like the following species. 

 Few-leaved Indigo, Shrub 1 to 2 feet. 



Flowers 



strigose beneath 



legume 



reflexed, tetragonal, straight, 6-8-seeded. ©.? S. Native of 

 the East Indies. Lotus percgrinus, Burm. fl. ind. 173. but not 

 of Lin, Trifolium rndicum, flore riibro, Kleinh. in herb. Burm. 

 Flowers red. 



Foreign Indigo. PI. procumbent. 



2J) L denuda'ta (Jacq. hort. schoenbr. 2. t. 233.) suffruti- 

 cose, erect, g];ibrous ; leaflets 3, obcordate or obovate ; racemes 

 pedunculate, few-flowered, hardly twice the length of the leaves ; 



. G. Native of the Cape 

 of Good Hope. Lodd. bot. cab. 500, Flowers red, streaked 



Thunb. fl. cap. 597. 



Striped Indigo. Fl. May, July. Clt. 1790. Shrub 2 feet. 



80 I. amce'na (Ait. hort. kew. 3. p. 68.) plant suffruticose, 

 erect: 



§ 3. Multijug{e (from mullus, many, and jugrim^ a yoke or 

 pair ; in reference to the leaves being composed of many yokes 

 or pairs of leaflets). Leaves impart-pinnatey having usually many 



pairs of leaflets^ rarely 2 pairs only. 



* Petioles elongated. 



Stems shrubby. 



38 



legume terete, acute, pendulous. Tj 



Lodd. bot. cab. 500, 

 with more intense lines. 



I. arge'ntea (Lin. mant. 27. but not of Burm.) shrubby ; 

 branches terete, white from silky adpressed down ; leaves with 

 1-2 pairs of obovate leaflets, which are clothed w^th silky pu- 

 bescence; racemes shorter than the leaves ; legumes pendulous, 



' - . G. 



^ 



leaflets 3, oval, rather pilose, mucronate, pale beneath ; 

 spike pedunculate, 

 leaves 



12. G. 



many-flowered, 4-times the length of the 

 calyx loose ; legume terete, acute, pendulous. 

 Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 



t. 234.^ Ker. bot. reg, 300. I. heterophylla, Thunb. fl. cap 

 597. 



somewhat compressed, torulose, canescent, 2-4-seeded. 

 Native of Egypt, Arabia, and the East Indies. Lher. stirp. t. 29. 

 I. articulata, Gouan. ill. 49. I. glauca. Lam. diet. 3. p. 246. 

 I. tinctoria, Forsk. descr. 138. This plant is gathered in Barbary 

 and Egypt for indigo. According to Desfontaines it is culti- 

 vated extensively in the kingdom of I'unis for dyeing ; but he 



Flowers deep red. 

 Pleasing Indigo. 

 31 L 



Fl. Mar. June. Clt. 1774. Sh. 2 to 3 ft. 



Jacq. hort. schoenbr. 2. says it is not indigenous there. The Arabs call h IlabniL 



Flowers with the vexillum and keel yellow and wings red. 



Silvery or Arabian Indigo. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1776. Sh. 



2 to 3 feet. 



S9 I. TINCTORIA (Lin. spec. 1061.) stem suffruticose, erect; 

 leaves pinnate, with 4-7 pairs of obovate leaflets, which are pu- 

 bescent beneath ; racemes axillary, shorter than the leaves ; 

 legumes terete, torulose, arched, 8-10-seeded. 1?. S. Native 



RiGiDA (Willd. enum. 780.) plant shrubby, erect; 

 branches angular, pendulous ; leaflets 3, obovately orbicular, 

 retuse, covered beneath with strigose pili. Fj . S. Native of 

 the East Indies. Flowers and fruit unknown. 

 Stiff lnd')go. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1816. Shrub 1 to 2 feet. of^both Indies and tropical Africa, where it is cultivated to a 



32 



I. MuTisii (Spreng. syst. 3. p. 274.) branches clothed great extent. — Sloan, jam. 2. t. 179. f 2. — Rheed. mal. 1. 1. 54. 



P 



and 



with rufous pubescence ; leaflets 3, 



pulas ovate and glabrous; spikes of flowers panicled. 



Native of New Granada. 



are as well as the sti- 



T2. G. 



Rumph. amb. 5. t. 8. I. Sumatrana, Gaertn. fruct. 2. p. 317. 

 t. 148. Lam. ill. t. 626. f 1. Perhaps I. coerulea of Roxb. 



Mutis*s Indio;o. Shrub. 

 33 



I. Mexicana, Lin. fil. 



hort. 



I. virga'ta (D. C. prod. 2. p. 224.) plant suffruticose, 

 erect, slender ; branches terete ; leaflets 3, obcordate, mucro- 

 nate by an awn, somewhat coriaceous, glabrous above and pu- 

 oescent beneath ; racemes somewhat spicate, shorter than the 

 ^aves; calyxes villous. T2. 

 Flowers purplish. 



^^ar, /3, parvifdlia (D. C. prod. 2. p. 224.) leaflets obovate, 

 smaller. • -- - ^ ^ ^ ^ ' 



55. is sufficiently distinct from this plant. I. 



Flowers with a pale vexillum 



S. 



bcng. p. 

 Tndica, Lam. diet. 3. p. 245. 



and red keel and wings. Indigo is one of the most profit- 

 able articles of culture in Hindostan, because an immense ex- 

 tent of land is required to produce but a moderate bulk of the 

 dye ; because labour and land there is cheaper than any where 

 Nat'ive of the East Indies. else, and because the raising of the plant and its manufacture 



may be carried on even without the aid of a house. The first 

 step in the culture of the plant is to render the ground, which 



Clt. 1820. Sh. 1 to 2 ft. if naturally moist. 



should be friable and rich, perfectly free from weeds, and dry 



The seeds are then sown in shallow drills 



^ . G. Native of China. 

 ^"^'^ggy Indigo.^ Fl. July, Aug. .. _., 



34 L complana'ta (Reichb. ex Spreng. syst. append, p. 284.) 

 oranches flat, 2-edged ; leaflets 3, lanceolate-linear, acute, ing, otherwise if the seed is deposited in a dry soil or in the dr^ 



silvery beneath, from ^ , -.,«,, ... 



jnany.flowered, terminal ; calyx whi 

 Upe of Good Hope. Flowers red. 



^(fl«-stemmed Indigo. 



35 I. rAVT.'c..ENs (Lam. diet. 3. 



about a foot apart. The rainy season must be chosen for sow- 

 ing, otherwise if the seed is deposited in a dry soil or in the dry 

 season, it heats, corrupts, and is lost. The crop, being kept 

 clear of weeds, is fit for cutting in 2 or 3 months, and it may he 

 repeated in the rainy season every six weeks. The plants niust 

 not be allowed to come into flower, as the leaves at that time 



. ^^„„,. ^.^,. ^. ^. 251.) the whole plant become dry and hard, and the iW/^o produced is of less value, 



ciothed with adpressed canescent down ; branches angular ; nor must they be cut in dry weather, as they would not sprmg 



very short, adpressed strigae ; racemes 



ite. \2 . G. Native of the 



Shrub 1 foot. 



eaflets 3, ovate, obtuse, terminal one largest ; racemes axillary, 



agam 



A crop generally lasts two years. Being cut, the herb 



sessile, shorter than the leaves ; lerrume straight, linear, tetra- is first steeped in a vat till it has become macerated, and parted 



Shrub 1 foot. 





gonal, white, sprcadingly reflexed. " T2 .? S. Native of the East 

 Indies. Flowers red. 



Canescent Indigo. 

 -^?^,I' ^-'I'vEA (Willd. herb, ex Spreng. syst. 3. p. 273.) erect, 

 Zr '^'^^'"ed with silky white down ; leaflets 3, obovate, obtuse ; 

 racemes shorter than the leaves, 

 oi Good Hope. Flowers red. 



» A«/e-leaved Indigo. 



ihruhh ''^"^'^°"'' (^el'l- fl- *gypt- 107. t. 37. f. 22.) plant 

 ter t • i ^^^^^* clothed with white adpressed down ; branches 

 ^ e ; leaflets 1 to 4, oblong, mucronulate, lower ones smallest, 

 >■ alternate ; racemes somewhat spicate, longer than the 

 ; legumes somewhat filiform, torulose. \ . G. Native 



Shrub 1 to 2 feet. 



Usuall 

 leaves 



with its colouring matter, then the liquor is let off' into another 

 vat, in which it undergoes the peculiar process of beating, to 

 cause the fecula to separate from the water. This fecula is then 

 let off into a third vat, where it remains some time, and is then 

 strained through cloth bags, and evaporated in shallow wooden 

 \^.G. "Natfveof the Cape boxes placed in the shade. Before it is perfectly dry it is cut 



into small pieces of an inch square ; it is then packed m barrels 

 or stowed in sacks for sale. Indigo was not extensively culti- 

 vated in India before the British settlements were formed there ; 

 its profits were at first so considerable, that, as in similar cases, 

 its culture was carried too far, and the market glutted with the 



one of the most precarious ot 



The 



commodity. 



oriental crops, being 



indigo 



IS 



liable to be destroyed by hail-storms, 



