208 



LEGUMINOSiE. LXXIX, Indigofera. 



which do comparatively little injury to the sugar-cane and other 



plants. 



Indigo has long been cultivated in Spain, but has been long 

 on the decline in that country, owing to the more favorable cir- 

 cumstances of the East and West Indies. It was tried in the 



legumes compressed, not torulose, deflexed, arched, with the su- 

 tures on both sides rather prominent. Fj , S. Native of Soa4 

 America, spontaneous, but t^ultivated for indigo in both Indies. 

 See /. tinctbria for culture and uses. Mr. Miller says this plant 



111 lil^l lilt f ^ III II I tT a j ^xr% L ill 111. ¥ T CTS Ij ^IIVI Iv^o* J^t i" tAknj v a a^- ^* * »-» ^ *^^^ ^^ ^^^-^-^-^ ^-^^ ^^ ^ ^^ — ^ ^^^ — - - ^ «^^ ^^ 



south of France and Italy during the time of Bonaparte, but . and that being a much larger plant than /. <mc/5rm, it will afford 



found not worth following for the same reason. 



ground, 



1'he inJliio commonly cultivated in the West Indies is the 7. than any of the other species, especially if cut before the stems 



A^n'il, and sometimes 7. tinctbria and 7. GuatimalUy though there 

 are various species and varieties which afford a similar dye. 

 Indigo thrives best in free rich soil and a warm situation, fre- 

 quently refreshed with moisture. Having first chosen a piece 



grow woody ; it will also grow on poorer land. It is very com 

 mon in Jamaica, growing wild in all the savannahs, where doubt- 

 less it had been cultivated in former times. It is hardier than 

 any of the other sorts, and grows very luxuriantly, even in the 



lands 



of ground and cleared it, hoe it into little trenches, not above 



two inches or two inches and a half in depth, and not more .- , — - „^ -, _ - , i r a 



than 14 or 15 inches asunder. In the bottom of these at any generally the best, of a fine coppcrish cast, and ot a hjiegraa 



dryest 



P. Browne 



but it does not yield so much pulp, according to 

 the dye, however, that is extracted from it is 



season of the year, strew the seeds pretty thick, and immediately 

 cover them. As the plants shoot they should be frequently 



weeded, and kept constantly clean, until they spread sufficiently 



to cover the ground. Those who cultivate Indigo in great quan- 

 tities, only strew the seed pretty thick in little shallow pits, 

 hoed up irregularly, but generally within 4-5 or 6 inches of each 

 other, and covered as before. Plants raised in this manner are 

 observed to answer as well or rather better than the others, but 



.„_, , by 



the Bengalese. 



Far. a, oUgophylla (D.C. prod, 2. p. 225.) leaves having M 



pairs of leaflets ; legumes arched. ^2 • ^' Sloan, jam. 1. 176. 

 f.3. Lam. ill. t. 6x!9. f. 2. Native of South America, and the 

 West Indies. 



Far. ft 



c.) leaves having 5-7 paJrt 

 S. I. Cornezuelo, Mocd 



Far. 



they require more care in the weeding. The plants grow to full Sesse, fl. mex. icon. ined. 



perfection in 2 or 3 months, and are observed to answer when 



cut in full blossom. They are cut with reaping hooks, a few 



inches above the root, tied in loads, carried to the works, and 



laid by strata in the steeper. Seventeen negros are sufficient 



to manage twenty acres of indigo; and one acre of rich land, 



well planted, will, with good seasons and proper management, 



yield 500 pounds of indigo in twelve months, for the plant after 



of leaflets; legumes arched. ^ . . 



" Native of South America, and the 



W 



y, orthociirpa (D. C. 1. c.) 

 leaflets ; legume deflexed, straight, 

 t. 80. ? East Indies and Madagascar. 



Anil or West Indian Indigo. Fl. July, Aug, 

 Shrub 2 to 4 feet. 



trrt V Co lit* V A^'^ ^ ■ r 



fj. S.— Rumph. amb.i. 

 Perhaps a proper specie. 



^ cit. m 



yieiu ov\j pouims ui imu-u iii Lwtrivc IuuIlLlI^, lui mc |.ia..t c^it^i 42 I. Thibaudia NA (D. C. prod. 2. p. 225.) 5^^"^f^V"^. 



being cut sends out stolons or new growths, and gives 4 or 5 cose, erect; leaves pinnate, having 10 or ^^ P^'^*'*^ ? 5 ^ji^! 

 crops a-year, but must be replanted or resown afterwards. (P. retuse, mucronate leaflets, which are P^^^^^^^"^ ^^^^ ^^^^aigl^. 



Browne.) 



According to Loureiro indigo is si)ontaneous in China and 

 Cochin-china, and is cultivated all over those vast empires. 

 The ancients were acquainted with the dye which we call indigo 

 under the name of indicum. Pliny knew that it was a prepara- 

 tion of vegetable substance, though he was not acquainted with 

 the plant nor the process of making the dye. Even at the close 



^. ^^ ^ 



re I use, iiiuiJiuiiaLC jcaiicta, vviin^ii <m. y^k-vkj^^^^— - . . 



faces ; racemes length of leaves ; legume pendulous, strai^^ 

 linear, compressed, tapering into an acumen at the apex. 



seeded, ^i . S. 



Legumes disposed mi 

 Flowers dark purple. 



raceme, w^hich is 30 or 40 inches long. 



Thihaud's Indigo. Shrub 5 to 6 feet. ^ - 



43 I. LEPTOSTA^cHYA (D. C. prod. 2. p. 225.) stem suttrui^ 



cose, erect; leaves pinnate, with 5-10 pairs of ^^^"^'^ ' ^^ 1,^4 



iin; j|.jjaiii. kiKJL nit- jJkw\.too v/4 tii»xviii^ mv. vi.jf\-. .Latvia **«, ^KA^ ^M^^-^-^ ^ J 7 — ^ , J. fin t on 



of the sixteenth century it was not known in England what plant elliptic-obovate, retuse, mucronulate, rather pubesce ^^ 



produced indigo. For in the Remembrancer for Master T. by 

 Richard Ilarkluyt in 1582, he was instructed " to know i£ Jnil, 

 that coloureth blew, be a natural commodity of those parts 

 (Turkey) and if it be compounded of an herbe, to send the seed 

 or root, with the order of sowing, &c. that it may become a 

 natural commodity in the realme as woad is, that the high price 

 of foreign woad might be brought down." 



Dyer's Indigo. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1731. Shrub 2 to 3 ft. 



40 I. GuAXiMA^LA (Lun. hort. jam. 1. p. 420.) plant shrubby, 

 erect ; leaves pinnate, with 4 or 5 pairs of lanceolate leaflets, 

 which are hoary beneath ; racemes axillary, shorter than the 

 leaves ; legumes recurved, declining, gibbous at the sutures, 

 many-seeded. ^ . S. Native of South America, at Guatimala. 

 I. tinctoria /3, brachycarpa, D. C. prod. 2. p. 224. Flowers red. 

 Dr. Patrick Browne says this plant seldom exceeds 3 or 4 feet 



surfaces ; racemes axillary, slender, length of ^^^^^^^^,;^,, ^ 



T2.S. 



Native 



distant, erect ; legumes reflexed, straight, 

 the East Indies. Flowers red, about 20 in a spi^^* a,o5ft. 

 Slender-spiked Indigo. Fl. Ju. Jul. Clt. 1818. S>h.2 w^^ 

 44 I. uncinata; shrubby, erectish, branched, stitt , ^^ 

 pinnate, with 5 pairs of lanceolate, mucronate pubesce ^^^ 

 lets ; racemes short, spicate, axillary, sessile ; legunie> 

 crowded, b . S. Native of Sierra Leone, in waste place • 



H> 



Shrub 2 feet. 



45 I. ATROPURru^REA (Hamilt. in Horn. hort. hafn. adJ^ ^^ 

 shrubby, erect ; leaves pinnate, with 5-7 or 10 P^'|'^ ^^jj. 

 retuse, mucronulate leaflets, having their margms ratn ^^ 

 lated, younger ones covered with adpressed P""^**^^"^.^^ 

 ones nearly glabrous ; racemes axillary, slender, '"^ jj^i 

 lenath of leaves ; calyx silky ; legume ^traight, coy^-jp^a', 



slie^J' 



oDf 



high, throwing out many suberect branches as it rises. It is said mucronate, pendulous, 8-10-seeded. ^ . O. ^p, ^^ 



to be much hardier than /. tinctoria or /. Anil, and affords a finer at Narain-hetty, D. Don, prod. fl. nep. 244. no 



j)ulp, but it does not yield so great a quantity, and is only cul- dark-purple. Stipulas obsolete. ^'^ a ^ 



tivated where the seasons are not so certain, or in mixed fields. nnrk.mmlj'-ftnwered Indiffo. Fl. June, Aug. 



The former yielding more of the dye than either of the others is 



left? 



generally preferred, though liable to many more mischances. 



Guatimala Indigo. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1731 . Sh. 3 to 4 ft. 



41 I. A'nil (Lin. mant. 272.) stems shrubby, erect ; leaves 

 pinnate, having 3-7 pairs of oval or oblong leaflets, hardly pu- 

 bescent beneath; racemes axillary, shorter than the leaves; 



Clt. ISI*" 



D ark -pur 2^l€ -lowered Indigo. ^' 



Shrub 5 to 6 feet. . , , t.. . 



46 I. DosuA (D. Don, prod. fl. nep. 244.) s^'f^^^l^V 

 pinnate, having 1 0-1 C pairs of oval, retuse, "^"^5°" Ace*. * 

 lets, which are clothed with rufescent pih on botli si ^^^^^, 

 well as the branches; spikes axillary shorter than t ^^^ 

 bracteas and stipulas linear and hispid ; teeth ol Ciu) 



i 



