250. LEaUMINOSM. [Indigofeba. 



Common throughout the area, especially amongst grass. Distbib^ 

 Throughout the hotter parts of India to Ceylon, and in Upper Burma ; 

 also in Afghanistan, Abyssinia, the Malay Islands and in ^n . Australia- 

 The seeds of this ]^lant are largely collected in famine times by the 

 poo.rer people of W. India, and eaten in the form of bread. 



2. I. cordifolia, B.Qyn<i ex Roth Nov. PI. Sp. 337; W. Sf A Prod. 199 ; 

 Boyle III. 191; D. Sf G. Bonib. Fl. 53; F. B, I. ii, 93 ; Watt E. D.— 

 Vern. Vekriavas (Eaiputana). 



A copiously branched diffuse annual, more or less clothed with long white 

 hairs. /bte»is 3-9 in. long. Leaves simple, ^f in. long, subsessile, ovate^ 

 cordate, obtuse, mucronate, densely hairy beneath ; stipules minute, seta- 

 ceous. Floii-ers 4-8, in dense nearly sessile heads. CoAijx ^ in., with a 

 short tube and long setaceous very hairy teeth- Corolla iDright red, not 

 exserted. Pod about i in. long, oblong, terete, beaked, 2-seeded. Seeds 

 ovate, truncated at one end, yellow. 



Fairly common within the area, especially on sandy ground. Distrib. 

 W. Himalaya up to 4,00^' feet, plains of Punjab and Sind, Eajputana, 

 C. W. and S. India ; also in Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Nubia, Malay 

 Islands and in N. Australia. The flour prepared from the seeds is 

 largely used in Eajputana as a famine food. 



3. I. glandulosa, WUld. Sp'. PI. Hi, 1227 ; Roxb. Fl. Ind. Hi, 372 ; W. 

 Sf A, Prod. 199 ; D. ^ G. Bomb. FL 53 ; F. B. I. ii, 94 ; Watt E. D. 



A perennial herb with long slender branches which are woody below, cloth- 

 ed when young with spreading hairs, not silvery-canescent. Leaves 

 3-foliolate, petiole nearly as long as the leaflets ; stipules minute, setace- 

 ous ; leafitis ^-1 in. long, stalked, membranous green above, glaucous 

 and black-dotted beneath. Flowers in dense sessile or shortly pedunc- 

 led heads. Calyx -jW in. long; teeth long, setaceous. Corolla more than 

 twice the calyx, reddish. Pod about 4- in. long, oblong, finely pubes- 

 cent, angled, the angles often slightly winged and toothed, 1-or 2-seeded. 



Bundelkhand. Distrib. Behar, C. and W. India and in the Central 

 Provinces. The seeds are used as a famine food in the same manner as 

 are those of I. linifolia and I. cordifolia (see Agricultural Ledger No. 

 19, 1898). 



4. I. enneaphylla, Linn. Mant. ii, 272 ; Roxb. Fl. Ind. Hi, 376 ; W. Sf A. 

 Prod. 199 ; Moyle III. 191 ; D. Sf G. Bonxb. Fl. 53; F. B. I. ii, 94; Watt E. D. 



Annual or perennial, often with a woody rootstock. Stems densely caespi- 

 tose, 12-18 in. long, trailing and much branched, sparingly strigose with 

 white appressed hairs. Leaves 4-1^ in. long, o-9-foliolate, nearly sessile ; 

 stipules ovate, cuspidate, scaricse ; leaflets small, firm, oblanceolate, 

 retuse, mucronate. Flowers small, nearly sessile, in dense oval short- 

 peduncled spikelike heads ; bracts lanceolate, acuminate, scariose. 

 Calyx hairy ; teeth long, setaceous. Corolla bright-red, slightly exser- 

 ted. Pod I in., oblong, cylindrical, clothed with white appressed hairs. 

 Seeds 2, with a partition between them. 



