INDIGO HORT'US JAMArCENSlS; Jtlft 



petals connate at the base, o])-cordate, larger on one side, veined, of a very pale suT- 

 fihnr colour, with a darlv blooJ-recl bottom ; capsule closed liy tlie valyx, ov;,te , seeds 

 angular, black; soineiiines the leaves are entirely undivided. -So.'. There is a varia- 

 tion ot tiiis species which it; thoroughly green. The former, commonly called 7'ed~ 

 sorrel, is most generaiiy cultivated, as its acid is the sharpest of the two. The flower- 

 cups and capsules, freed from the seed, are the only pans used ; they make agreeable 

 tarts; anJ, a decoction of them sweetened, is wliat is commonh' called sorrel cool- 

 drink. It is a small diluting liquor, reckoned very refreshing and diuretic. The acid 

 of these plants k of a more lively and pleasant nature than that of common sorrel ; they 

 blossom about October, and the flowers and cups make very agreeable tarts, and ex- 

 cellent vinegar. A syrup is also made b)" taking the most juicy capsules, and adding 

 twice or tluice their quantity of double-refined sugar. Put this mixture, without any 

 water, into a glass vessel, and place it into a sand heat, the digestion maybe carried 

 on with a moderate heat, till the leaves are all dissolved. A drink may be made of the 

 preserved sorrel of a diuretic nature, tt* which a little nitre should be adtled. Her- 

 Tandez says the root, given to two drachms, is an easy purge. Tiie stalks afford a 

 tind of hemp, which makes good lines. 



See Changeable Rose Mahoe Musk Ochea Ochua. 



INDIGO. INDIGOFERA. 



Cl. 17, OR. 4. Diadelphia decandria, Nat. or. Papilionacca. 



s^EN. CHAR. Calyx a one-leafed, spreading, perianth, nearly flat, five-toothetlj 

 corolla papilionaceous, the keel having an awl-shaped spreading spur on each 

 side ; the stamens disposed in a cylinder, diadelphons, ascending at their tips, 

 with roundish anthers i the pistil has a cylindric germ, a short ascending styie, 

 and obtuse stigma; the pericarp a linear roundish legume, with kidney-shaped 

 > seeds. Three species are natives of Jamaica. 



1. tinctoria. dying. 

 ' Colutete affinis fruticosa, flvribus spicatis purpurascentibus, siliquis 

 inciirvis, e eitjus tinctura ind.go conficitur. Sloane, v. 2, p. 34, 

 t. 179, f. 2. DecomposiLa, dijj'usa, minor et humilior ; ramis gra- 

 cilibus. Browne, p. 302. 

 ' Leaves pinnate, ob-ovate; j-acemes short; stei sufii-uticose. 

 The stem of this plant is filiform, sub-flexuose, angular, branched at top ; branches 

 alternate ; leaflets in four pairs, or more, very blunt, pointed, smooth, finely villose 

 beneath ; the racemes from the axils of the leaves, when they begin to flower shorter 

 than the leaf, but becoming longer as they advance. Legumes droopiug, sub colum- 

 nar, sharp, suaigiit, very finely vidose. This plant is not so hardy, says Dr. Browne, 

 nor does it give so good a pulp as the following species ; but it yields a great deal more 

 :of the dye than either of them, and is, for that reason, generally preferred, though 

 subject to a great many more mischances. It seldom rises above two feet and a half in 

 height, and seems to divide rather than to branch in its growth. 



H h h 2 2. OUATiaULA. 



