412 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



ad-pressed grey hairs, ovate-oblong, 13-17, su-bcoriaceous, Sti- 

 pule abortive or very minute ; bracts exceeding the buds, 

 usually boat-shaped, with cusp. Racemes short-peduncled, 

 moderately close, l-3in. long ; pedicels short. Calyx T \ in. long^ 

 argento-canescent ; teeth short, deltoid. Corolla bright red, 

 glabrous externally, generally f-Jin., reaching f-|in. long; 

 the standard fin. broad, reflexed in the expanded flower. Pod 

 straight, turgid, glabrous, 1^-lfin. long, 8-12-seeded. . 

 Part used:— The root. 



Use: — A decoction of the root is given by the Santals for 

 cough ; and a powder of the same is applied externally for pains 

 in the chest (Revd. H. Campbell). 



The interesting ' Notes on Indigoferge,' recently published by Dr. Prain 

 and Mr. E. Baker in the Journal of Botany, reveal many facts, which, apart 

 from their historical and geographical interest, are of great importance in 

 regard to indigo- culture in India In their opinion, I. tinct oria {taken in the 

 wide sense) may be considered as representing 3 distinct forms, as follows : — 



Form 1. This is the wild indigo which was found in Nubia by Kotschy 

 in 1841 ; and specimens agreeing with it have since been collected in Central 

 India. The plant was probably unknown to Linnseus and also to DeCandolle 

 Regarded" as a distinct species, its correct name would be I. Bergii, Vatke, 



Form 2. This is the southern, or the Madras and Ceylon cultivated in- 

 digo. It is also I. tinctoria, Linn. Sp. PL (in part), and X>eCandolle-'s var. 

 macrocarpa of that species. It is found in a semi- wild state in the Jumna 

 ravines, near Agra and Muttra, also in Merwara (Rajputana), where it is not, 

 and probably never has been, cultivated. It is called," Jinjini " in Rajputana, 

 where its seeds are collected and eaten in years of scarcity, no other use 

 being made of the plant. This form has been collected in a similar wild 

 condition in many other localities more or less distant from its true area of 

 cultivation. • -- ■" - '- ' -- * * 



Form 3. I, sumatrana, Goertn. Fruct, ii, 371, t. 148. Syn. I. indica, Lamk 

 — Yern. Xil. This is the northern cultivated form of indigo, extending from 

 Behar and Tirhut to the Punjab, where its area meets that in which some 

 form of J. argent ea is grown, and southwards to the Circars, where its area 

 approaches that of the Madras cultivated form of I. tinctoria. According to 

 Dr. Prain, this is the form that was first introduced into the W. Indies from 

 the E. Indies, and in America it is the usual one met with. It also occurs in 

 Trop. Africa, and in Formosa. It may be distinguished botanically from the 

 southern form by its leaflets, which are larger, and ovate-oblong or oblong, 

 instead of obovate or sub-orbicular. The pods also of I. sumatrana are short- 

 er, thicker and blunter at the apex, and they are usually more numerous 

 and straighter than in the Madras form. This northern form of indigo 

 is an important rainy-season crop within the area. (Duthie's Flora of the 

 Upper Gangetic Plain, Vol. I. p. 255). - 



