1744 



]NDIG(3fERA atropuipurea. 

 Purple-fiowered Indigo plant. 



DIADELPniA DECANDRIA. 



Nat. ord. Leguminos^ Juss. (Introduction to the Natural System of 

 Botany, p. 86.) 



INDIGOF ERA.— Supra, vol 5. fol. 386. 



I. atropurpurea ; fruticosa, erecta, folils 5-6-jugis, foliolis oblongis obtusissimis 

 apiculatis tenuibus glabris, racemis multifloris foliis aequalibus v. longioribus, 

 leguminibus linearibus rectis acustriatis 8-9-spermis. 



I. atropurpurea Hamilt. in Roxb. FL Ind. vol. 3. 380. Wall. Cat. No. 5463. 



A native of Nepal, where it was originally found by Ha- 

 milton ; probably in the hot valleys ; for it does not succeed 

 w^ell, unless cultivated in the stove. There it becomes a 

 handsome light green bush, richly ornamented by its nu- 

 merous bunches of purple and crimson flowers. If planted 

 in the open air, it languishes even on a south w^all and in 

 such a season as that of 1834 ; producing its blossoms in 

 small quantities and imperfectly. 



Our specimens were communicated in August, 1833, from 

 the hothouse 'of James Bateman, Esq. of Knypersley. 



Roxburgh says, that when raised in the Botanic Garden 

 at Calcutta, it grew from 3 to 5 feet high in about 8 months. 



* Literally Indigo - bearer ; some species of this genus producing the dye of 

 that name. 



