LEGUMINOSzE. LXXIX. INBIGOFERA. 



207 



28 I. PEREGRINA (D. C. prod. 2. p. 224.) stem terete, fili- 

 form, glabrous, siiff'niticose ; leaflets 3, about equal in size 

 and shape, oblong-linear, acute, pubescent above, dotted and 

 strigose beneath; flowers 2, axillary, nearly sessile; legume 

 reflexed, tetragonal, straight, 6-8-seeded. (). ? S. Native of 

 the East Indies. Lotus peregrinus, Burm. fl. ind. 173. but not 

 of Lin. Trif olium I'ndicum, florc rubro, Kleinh. in herb. Burin. 

 Flowers red. 



Foreign Indigo. PI. procumbent. 



29 I. DENUDA'TA (Jacq. hort. schoenbr. 2. t. 233.) suffrtiti- 

 cose, erect, glabrous ; leaflets 3, obcordate or obovate ; racemes 

 pedunculate, few-flowered, hardly twice the length of the leaves ; 

 legume terete, acute, pendulous. J? . G. Native of the Cape 

 of Good Hope. I/odd, bot. cab. 500. Flowers red, streaked 

 with more intense lines. Thunb. fl. cap. 597. 



Striped Indigo. Fl. May, July. Clt. 1790. Shrub 2 feet. 



30 I. AMOS'NA (Ait. hort. kew. 3. p. 68.) plant suff'ruticose, 

 erect ; leaflets 3, oval, rather pilose, mucronate, pale beneath ; 

 spike pedunculate, many-flowered, 4-times the length of the 

 leaves ; calyx loose ; legume terete, acute, pendulous. Ij . G. 

 Native of the Cape of Good Hope. Jacq. hort. schttnbr. 2. 

 t. 234. Ker. bot. reg. 300. I. heterophylla, Thunb. fl. cap. 

 597. Flowers deep red. 



Pleasing Indigo. Fl. Mar. June. Clt. 1774. Sh. 2 to 3ft. 



31 I. RI'GIDA (Willd. enum. 780.) plant shrubby, erect; 

 branches angular, pendulous ; leaflets 3, obovately orbicular, 

 retuse, covered beneath with strigose pili. Pj . S. Native of 

 the East Indies. Flowers and fruit unknown. 



Stifflndigo. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1816. Shrub 1 to 2 feet. 



32 I. MUTISII (Spreng. syst. 3. p. 274.) branches clothed 

 with rufous pubescence ; leaflets 3, and are as well as the sti- 

 pulas ovate and glabrous; spikes of flowers panicled. Tj . G. 

 Native of New Granada. I. Mexicana, Lin. fil. 



Mutis's Indigo. Shrub. 



33 I. VIRGA'TA (D. C. prod. 2. p. 224.) plant .suffruticose, 

 erect, slender ; branches terete ; leaflets 3, obcordate, mucro- 

 nate by an awn, somewhat coriaceous, glabrous above and pu- 

 bescent beneath ; racemes somewhat spicate, shorter than the 

 leaves ; calyxes villous. Tj . S. Native of the East Indies. 

 Flowers purplish. 



Var. ft, parvifblia (D. C. prod. 2. p. 224.) leaflets obovate, 

 smaller. J-> . G. Native of China. 



Twiggy Indigo. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1820. Sh. 1 to 2 ft. 



34 I. COMPLANA'TA (Reichb. ex Spreng. syst. append, p. 284.) 

 branches flat, 2-edged ; leaflets 3, lanceolate-linear, acute, 

 silvery beneath, from very short, adpressed strigse ; racemes 

 many-flowered, terminal ; calyx white. Ij . G. Native of the 

 Cape of Good Hope. Flowers red. 



Flat-stemmed Indigo. Shrub 1 foot. 



35 I. CANE'SCENS (Lam. diet. 3. p. 251.) the whole plant 

 clothed with adpressed canescent down ; branches angular ; 

 leaflets 3, ovate, obtuse, terminal one largest ; racemes axillary, 

 sessile, shorter than the leaves ; legume straight, linear, tetra- 

 gonal, white, spreadingly reflexed. fj .? S. Native of the East 

 Indies. Flowers red. 



Canescent Indigo. Shrub 1 foot. 



36 I. NI'VEA (Willd. herb, ex Spreng. syst. 3. p. 273.) erect, 

 and clothed with silky white down ; leaflets 3, obovate, obtuse ; 

 racemes shorter than the leaves. T? . G. Native of tbe Cape 

 of Good Hope. Flowers red. 



White-\en\ed Indigo. Shrub 1 to 2 feet. 



37 I. PAUCIFOLIA (Delil. fl. Eegypt. 107. t. 37. f. 22.) plant 

 shrubby, erect, clothed with white adpressed down ; branches 

 terete ; leaflets 1 to 4, oblong, mucronulate, lower ones smallest, 

 usually alternate ; racemes somewhat spicate, longer than the 

 leaves ; legumes somewhat filiform, torulose. (7 . G. Native 



of Egypt, in Elephant Island, and of the East Indies. Flowers 

 probably red. Very like the following species. 

 Few-leaved Indigo. Shrub 1 to 2 feet. 



| 3. Rlultijugee (from mullus, many, and jugiim, a yoke or 

 pair ; in reference to the leaves being composed of many yokes 

 or pairs of leaflets). Leaves inipari-piiinatc, having usually many 

 pairs of leaflets, rarely 2 pairs only. 



* Petioles elongated. Stems shrubby. 



38 I. ARGE'NTEA (Lin. mant. 27. but not of Burm.) shrubby ; 

 branches terete, white from silky adpressed down ; leaves with 

 1-2 pairs of obovate leaflets, which are clothed with silky pu- 

 bescence ; racemes shorter than the leaves ; legumes pendulous, 

 somewhat compressed, torulose, canescent, 2-4-seeded. Tj . G. 

 Native of Egypt, Arabia, and the East Indies. Lher. stirp. t. 29. 

 I. articulata, Gouan. ill. 49. I. glauca, Lam. diet. 3. p. 246. 

 I. tinetoria, l^orsk, descr. 138. This plant is gathered in Barbary 

 and Egypt for indigo. According to Desfontaines it is culti- 

 vated extensively in the kingdom of Tunis for dyeing ; but he 

 says it is not indigenous there. The Arabs call it Habnil. 

 Flowers with the vexillum and keel yellow and wings red. 



Silvery or Arabian Indigo. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1776. Sh. 

 2 to 3 feet. 



39 I. TINCTORIA (Lin. spec. 1061.) stem suffruticose, erect ; 

 leaves pinnate, with 4-7 pairs of obovate leaflets, which are pu- 

 bescent beneath ; racemes axillary, shorter than the leaves ; 

 legumes terete, torulose, arched, 8-10-seeded. Tj . S. Native 

 of both Indies and tropical Africa, where it is cultivated to a 

 great extent. Sloan, jam. 2. t. 179. f. 2. Rheed. mal. 1. t. 54. 

 Humph, amb. 5. t. 8. I. Suinatrana, Gaertn. fruct. 2. p. 317." 

 t. 148. Lam. ill. t. 626. f. 1. Perhaps I. coerulea of Roxb. 

 hort. beng. p. 55. is sufficiently distinct from this plant. I. 

 I'ndica, Lam. diet. 3. p. 245. Flowers with a pale vexillum 

 and red keel and wings. Indigo is one of the most profit- 

 able articles of culture in Hindostan, because an immense ex- 

 tent of land is required to produce but a moderate bulk of the 

 dye ; because labour and land there is cheaper than any where 

 else, and because the raising of the plant and its manufacture 

 may be carried on even without the aid of a house. The first 

 step in the culture of the plant is to render the ground, which 

 should be friable and rich, perfectly free from weeds, and dry 

 if naturally moist. The seeds are then sown in shallow drills 

 about a foot apart. The rainy season must be chosen for sow- 

 ing, otherwise if the seed is deposited in a dry soil or in the dry 

 season, it heats, corrupts, and is lost. The crop, being kept 

 clear of weeds, is fit for cutting in 2 or 3 months, and it may be 

 repeated in the rainy season every six weeks. The plants mus t 

 not be allowed to come into flower, as the leaves at that time 

 become dry and hard, and the indigo produced is of less value, 

 nor must they be cut in dry weather, as they would not spring 

 again. A crop generally lasts two years. Being cut, the herb 

 is first steeped in a vat till it has become macerated, and parted 

 with its colouring matter, then the liquor is let off into another 

 vat, in which it undergoes the peculiar process of beating, to 

 cause the fecula to separate from the water. This fecula is then 

 let off into a third vat, where it remains some time, and is then 

 strained through cloth bags, and evaporated in shallow wooden 

 boxes placed in the shade. Before it is perfectly dry it is cut 

 into small pieces of an inch square ; it is then packed in barrels 

 or stowed in sacks for sale. Indigo was not extensively culti- 

 vated in India before the British settlements were formed there ; 

 its profits were at first so considerable, that, as in similar cases, 

 its culture was carried too far, and the market glutted with the 

 commodity. The indigo is one of the most precarious of 

 oriental crops, being liable to be destroyed by hail-storms, 



