138 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



and its native country is uncertain, or at least disputed. Bentbam (DC, Prodr., ii. p. 

 225) treats it as an American plant, -which has run wild from cultivation in the Old 

 World. It is not mentioned in Hooker's Flora of British India ; but Miquel is of opinion 

 that it is indigenous there, as well as Indigofera tinctoria, a closely allied species. 

 Indigo/era anil is common, and apparently generally spread in a wild state in Tropical 

 Africa. The genus numbers upwards of two hundred species, spread all over the tropics, 

 and extending into some extratropical regions ; the greatest concentration of species is in 

 Tropical and South Africa. 



Indigofera linifolia, Retz. 



Indigofera linifolia, Eetz. ; Miq., Fl. Ind. Bat., i. 1, p. 315 ; Benth., Fl. Austr., ii. p. 195 ; Hook, f., 

 Fl. Brit. Ind., ii. p. 92. 



Larat ; Timor Laut. — Common throughout Tropical Asia ; occurring also in Northern 



Australia and in Eastern Tropical Africa. 



Tephrosia purpurea, Pers. 



Tephrosia purpurea, Pers. ; Miq., Fl. Ind. Bat., i. 1, p. 296 ; Benth., Fl. Austr., ii. p. 209 ; Hook, f., 



Fl. Brit. Ind., ii. p. 112 ; Oliver, Fl. Trop. Afr., ii. p. 124. 

 Tephrosia piscatoria, Pers. ; Seem., Fl. Vit., p. 55 ; A. Gray, Wilkes' U.S. Expl. Exped. Bot., i. p. 



408 {Tephrosia baueri, Benth.) 



Timor Laut. — This shrub grows almost everywhere in the tropics, both in the Old 

 World and America, extending in some countries into subtropical regions. It is a common 

 seaside plant in the Archipelago, and in many of the Pacific Islands, including the Fiji, 

 Society, and Sandwich Islands ; but H. Mann (in Proc. Amer. Acad., vii. p. 1G3) places it 

 in the category of plants most likely introduced into the Sandwich Islands by the abori- 

 gines. Nadeaud (Enum. PI. Tahiti, p. 79) describes it as a plant of the first hills at 1000 

 to 1200 feet elevation, bearing the native name "Hora." Tephrosia numbers about one 

 hundred species, spread over all the warmer regions of the earth. 



Sesbania grandiflora, Pers. 



> ibania grandiflora, Pers. ; Benth., Fl. Austr., ii. p. 212 ; Hook, f., Fl. Brit. Ind., ii. p. 115; II. 



Mann in Proc. Anier. Acad., vii. p. 163. 

 Agati grandiflora, Desv. ; Miq., Fl. Ind. Bat., i. 1, p. 289. 



Timor Laut. — North Australia, and common throughout the Indian Archipelago, and 

 often cultivated. It also occurs wild in India and the Mauritius, where it is doubtfully 

 indigenous ; and it is in the early collections from the Sandwich Islands ; but Mann treats 

 it as a plant introduced into the island by the aborigines. The genus, although counting 

 less than a score of species, is spread all over the tropics. 



