912 . BOTANICON SINICUM. ~ 
Chow li, I, 880:—Le préposé aux plantes de teinture, — 
& Ye Ys, est chargé de recueillir au printemps et en automne- : 
les espéces de plantes qui servent & la teinture. The text of — 
_ the Chow li does not give the names of these plants, but the — 
early commentators supply them. In Biov’s translation — 
{f. ¢., note} we have to read lan for lien. mee 
Hia Calendar, 68 :—Fifth month fig # HB. Doverss — 
translates :—Begin to hecome luxuriant the Ruellia and the — 
Clematis. Bror has :—Neéparez (coupez) la plante fan liao 
(l'Indigo) qui est en pleine croissance. ; ee 
Bior is correct in taking lan liao to be one name. It is — 
the Polygonum tinctorium [see farther on]. e 
See also the Rh ya, 178, ma lan. , 
The Chinese dyeing drug which in commerce goes under — 
the name of Indigo [Reports on Trade of the Chinese Mari- 
time Customs] is yielded by distinct plants in different parts — 
of China. The blue dye-stuff properly called Indigo Bs 
prepared from the leaves of Indigofera tinttoria, L., a legu- 
minous shrub cultivated from immemorial times in India — 
and the warmer parts of Asia. /. Anil, L., a larger plant, — 
also generally cultivated in warm countries for the production 
of indigo, is supposed to be of American origin. The late 
Dr. Haxce wrote me that this species is frequently seen in — 
Southern China. Lovretro [Flora cochin., 560] mentions - 
1. tinctoria as cultivated in South China under the names 5 
lan tsao, ta cim (ts‘ing). As the true Indigo plant is a 
tropical species, it is never met with in the northern part of | 
China. I am not aware how far to the north its cultivation — 
in China extends, sae 
‘Polygonum tinetorium mentioned by Louretro [/. ¢., 297) 
asa plant yielding Indigo at Canton, is grown also in the 
northern provinces, especially near Peking, where it is called : 
lan, Depeaux [Hore de Changhui, 52] found it cultivated 
near Shanghai. This plant is a native of China and is grow!, 
