76 LEGUMINOS.^:. [Indigofera. 



3. INDIGOFERA, Linn. 



Calyx small, broadly and obliquely campanulate, witb 5 teetb or lobes, the 

 lowest the longest. Standard ovate or orbicular. Keel erect, with long claws, 

 and a small protuberance or spur on each side, above the claw. Stamens 

 diadelphous, the sheath slender, and usually persistent after the fall of the 

 petals. Anthers tipped with a small gland or point. Ovaiy sessile or nearly 

 so, wdth several ovules. Pod usually slender, cylindi'ical or 4-angled, with 

 transverse cellular partitions between the seeds, rarely flattened, or when re- 

 duced to a single seed nearly globular. — Herbs, undershrubs, or slender shrubs, 

 more or less hoary or sprinkled with appressed hairs, fixed by their centre. 

 Leaves usually pinnate, vaih opposite or alternate leaflets and a terminal odd 

 one, sometimes reduced to 3 or 1, and in a few Afi'ican species with 3 or 5 

 digitate leaflets. Stipules small ; stipellse occur occasionally. Flowers usually 

 red or pui^ple, in axillary spikes or racemes. 



A large genus, widely spread over tropical Asia and America, but still more abundant in 

 tropical and southern Africa, with a few Australian species. 



Prostrate, decumbent, or ascending herbs. Pods straight, closely re- 

 flexed on the peduncle. 



Stem hirsute with spreading hairs 1 . /. hirsuta. 



Stem glabrous, much flattened 2. 7. endecaphyUa. 



Erect shrubs or undershrubs. 



Pods reflected, much curved and crowded. Flowers small . . . 3. 7. Anil. 

 Pods straight, spreading. Flowers rather large, in loose racemes. 



Leaflets much veined^ most of them verj' obtuse .... 4.7 venulosa. 



Leaflets slightly veined, most of them acute 5. I. decora. 



1. I. hirsuta, Linu. ; W. and Am. Prod. Fl. Penhis. i. 204. A de- 

 cumbent or ascending branching annual, 1 to 3 feet high, remarkable in the 

 genus for the spreading hairs which clothe the branches, petioles, and inflo- 

 rescence. Leaves pinnate, Avith 3 to 5 pak of opposite leaflets and a terminal 

 one, aU obovate or oblong, with stiff appressed hairs, the common petiole 2 to 

 3 in., the leaflets from i to 1 in. long. Racemes dense, shortly stalked, from 

 1 to 4 in. long. Pods about \ in. long, straight, quadrangular, reflexed on the 

 peduncle, veiy hirsute, with 5 to 7 seeds. — /. astragalina, DC. Prod. ii. 228. 



On the racecourse. Champion; abundant near- the sea, Wilford ; also Wright and Ranee, 

 Widely dispersed over tropical Africa, Asia, and Australia. 



2. I. endecaphyUa, Jacci. ; DC. Prod. ii. 228; Bot. Mag. t. 789. 

 Stock perennial, sometimes almost woody ; the branches prostrate or ascending, 

 somewhat hoary, and ahvays more or less flattened, especially in the upper 

 part. Leaflets from 5 to 11, alternate, fi'om obovate to oblong, or even linear, 

 from 4 to 6, or even 8 lines long, obtuse, glabrous above, with appressed haii's 

 underneath, the common petiole about 1 in. long. Plowers small, almost 

 sessile, in axillaiy racemes about the length of the leaves. Calyx deeply 5- 

 cleft, w^ith subulate teeth (or lobes). Pods about f in. long, straight, obtusely 

 quadrangular, reflexed on the peduncle, nearly glabrous, usually wdth 8 to 10 

 seeds.—/, anceps, Yahl; DC. Prod. ii. 228. /. Kleinii, W. and Arn. Prod. i. 

 204. /. Schim'periana, Hochst. PI. Schimp. Abyss. 



Hongkong, Wright. Occurs in various parts of tropical and southern Africa, and in the 

 Indian Peninsula, probably therefore introduced into Hongkong. 



