VEGETABI^E KINGDOM. 21 7 



INDIGOFERA. — A number of plants producing indigo 

 are found in China, nearly all of which go by the common 

 name of ^ i!^ (Lan-ts'ao), ''blue plant." Other Chinese 

 names are used, but their specific application to genus or 

 species is not always clear. Faber calls ;^ ^ (Ta-ch'ing) 

 Ifidigofera ti^ictoria^ and such is also the identification of the 

 Customs lists, 121 8. In Japan the plant with this Chinese 

 name is Justicia crinata^ but the description in the Pentsao 

 does not agree with an acanthaceous plant. However, it may 

 be the plant which Fortune describes as being extensively cul- 

 tivated in Chekiang province for producing indigo, and which 

 he called Rtiellia itidigotica^ being the same as the Strobilan- 

 thes flaccidifolitis of Nees. The Pentsao does not mention -j^ 

 ^ as an indigo bearing plant. It says that it is a common 

 plant, growing to the height of two or three feet, having a 

 round stem, leaves three or four inches long, dark green on the 

 upper side and paler underneath, and placed in opposite pairs at 

 the upper joints of the stem. The flowers are red, small, and 

 arranged in corymbs. The fruit is at first green, but afterwards 

 turns red, and resembles that of Zanthoxylmn. The stalk and 

 leaves are used in medicine, and they are considered to be anti- 

 febrile and antidotal. They are employed in all sorts of febrile 

 epidemics, including typhoid fever and epidemic dysentery. 



Another name assigned to Indigo/era tinctoria is ^jc ^ 

 (Mu-lan). This is a leguminous shrub cultivated in the south 

 of China and India. It is described in the Pentsao as having 

 leaves resembling those of the Sophera^ with pale red flowers, 

 followed by pods an inch or more long. ^ ^ (Sung-lan) is 

 Isatis tinctoria^ the woad of western dyers. In Japan there is 

 another species called \L^ 'h% (Chiang-nan-ta-ch'ing), and 

 judging from its name, to be found in China also, which is 

 identified by Franchet as Isatis japojtica. There is also ^ ^ 

 (Liao-lan), which is Polygonum tinct07'ium. These three are 

 the source of most of the indigo produced in China, and are 

 described under the general term ^ (Lan) in the Pintsao. 

 Two other kinds are mentioned, called ^ ^(Ma-lan) and ^ ^ 

 (Wu-lan), but these are probably only varieties of the others. 

 The fruits of these plants are used in medicine. They are 

 considered to be antidotal, anthelmintic, and restorative. Con- 



