446 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol, VILE, 
In the rainy season of 1889, when the first rain fell, I found that the Bhakha 
plant had again shown ‘predominance over other newly-grown plants on the 
coastal area. Being then quite young and not much raised above the ground, 
the Bhakhé plant could not be got at by the horned cattle, as it was beyond the | 
reach of their large mouths and thick lips. But it was within easy reach of the 
smaller and thinner lips of sheep and goats; they therefore fed largely on it and 
suffered in consequence. I therefore decided that it was the Bhakha plant 
alone that caused the diarrhea among sheep. 
I give below a description of the plant :— 
Indigofera cordifolia (Heyne), Hooker’s Flo. Br. Ind., Vol. II., p. 93 ; 
W. and A. Pro. Flo. Ind., Vol. I., p. 199 ; Dalz. and Gibs. Bomb. Flo., p. 58. 
Gujrati—Bhikha, Darid (eu, 2a). 
(Natural Order Leguminose). 
Description. —A. diffuse annual plant covered all over with soft white hair 
except corolla and seeds. 
Root.—Long and tapering, sometimes slightly branched at the base and 
giving off here and there a few minute fibres ; it is 3 to 8 inches long and as 
thick as a crow-quill ; of a pale brown colour, and longitudinally fissured ; on 
section it has a dull white resinous appearance. 
Stems.— Suppressed. Branches radiating from a point immediately above 
roots, which grow to the length of from six to eighteen inches, giving off 
branchlets which are generally disposed of in secund. These branchlets give 
off still smaller branchlets in secund, but in the opposite directions. 
Leaves.—Simple, alternate, thickish, very shortly petioled, slightly cordate, 
ovate, with a strong mucro, from # to 2 inches long ; soaked in water if dry, 
they are dotted with pellucid glands ; the mid-ribs are only perceptible on the 
under surfaces. 
Stipules.—Minute and setaceous. 
Flowers.—Racemes capituliform, sessile, flowers 4 to 8; calyx segments 
setaceous and longer than the bright red corolla. 
Pods.—t inch long, slightly curved and pointed with the remains of the 
style, distinctly one to two seeded ; the valves are adorned inside with brownish- 
red specks. 
Seeds.—Small, ovate, of a brownish-red colour, pitted and minutely tubercled. 
Remarks.—I present with these notes two dried specimens of Bhakha I have 
in my collection. I attempted to collect a, fresh specimen of it near the Wode- 
house bridge in Bombay, but I only found a dried plant as this is not the season 
for collecting green samples of the plant. The plant grows in the rains and dries 
up after the rains. The plant has been described in Hooker’s Flora of British 
India, Wight and Arnott’s Prodromus Flore Indiz, and in Dalzell and Gibson’s 
Bombay Flora. Dalzell and Gibson’s merely copies the description of Wight 
and Arnott. Hooker’s description is short, but gives the measurements of the 
different parts of the plant fairly well. I have supplemented the descriptions 
