INDIGOFERA TINCTORIA, Lirni. 



iVide Plate XII.] 



English, indigo; Vernacular, nil. 



Natural order Leguminosce, sub-order Pa2nlionacece, tribe Galegece. A small shrub, 4-6 ft. high, 

 ■with silvery, pubescent, tough, angular branches. Leaves alternate, 3-4 in. long, with minute 

 subulate stipules, unequally pinnate ; petiole ^-1 in. long ; leaflets opposite, in pairs of 4-6 and a 

 terminal one, shortly stalked, and furnished with minute setaceous stipels, f-1 in. long, obovate- 

 oblong or oval, entire, smooth, blueish-green above, and with adpressed white hairs on the lower 

 surface. Racemes stalked, axillary, shorter than the leaves, erect, spikelike, bracts subulate. Flowers 

 small, shortly stalked, rather crowded. Calyx shalloAv, becoming almost flat, teeth nearly equal, 

 and as long as the tube. Corolla papilionaceous ; standard oval, greenish ; wings dark pink ; keel 

 obtuse, rather longer than the wings, each of the petals spurred at the base. Stamens 10, diadelphous. 

 Pods in. long, straight or sub-falcate ; cylindrical, and somewhat contracted between the seeds, 

 8-12-seeded. Seeds quadrangular, brown. 



India is probably the natural habitat of the indigo plant, and the origin of the 

 name which it bears in Europe. Several species are found either wild or cultivated, in 

 addition to the one commonly grown in these Provinces, the most noticeable being the 

 wild indigo of the Himalayas {Indigo/era atropurpured), which forms a dense under- 

 growth in many localities on the outer ranges of the Himalayas between 2,000 and 6,000 

 feet. This species is not reported to yield dye matter, but another species (7. Anil, Linn) 

 which is cultivated in the Madras Presidency affords a dye similar to that of Indigofera 

 tinctoria. No varieties of Indigofera tinctoria are reported to exist in these Provinces, 

 but some would probably be discovered by careful investigation. 



The distribution of indigo cultivation in these Provinces appears to be very capri- 

 cious. It is of course entirely dependent on the existence of factories for the extraction 

 of the dye, and indigo manufacture is very far as yet from having spread over the whole 

 tract suited to it, but is to a great extent concentrated in localities where it was first 

 started by the enterprise of European grantees or settlers. The following sketch of the 

 rise of indigo manufacture in the Azamgarh District is taken from Mr. Reid's Settlement 

 Eeport, and its outline will apply with almost equal force to any other District in the 

 Provinces : — 



" The manufacture of indigo for export dates from the early years of British rule in the district. The 

 " Company's commercial resident was allowed to trade on his own account as well as for his masters, and 

 "Mr. Crommelin, commercial resident at Azamgarh and Man, in company with two gentlemen named Stewart 

 " and Scott, started the first indigo concern in Azamgarh. Its establishment was opposed by the Magistrate 

 " of the district under the rule which forbade the Europeans to occupy land and engage in indigo manufac- 

 " ture in the ceded Provinces without permission from the Governor General in Council. Mr. Crommelin 

 " eventually got leave to hold the factories, and was exonerated from blame in connection with them, but so 

 " aggrieved did he feel by the action of the Magistrate, that he filed an action in the supreme court for 

 " damages. What the result of the action was the records that are within reach do not show. His indigo 

 "concern seems to have been conducted through European and Eurasian assistants, and at first not without 



* References :— Linn. Sp. Pi. Ed. L p. 7fll ; Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 379 ; W. & A. Prod. 202 j Fl. Brit. lud. ii. 99; 

 Bentley and Trimen Med. PI. 72 ; Brandis For. Fl. 135 ; Powell Punj. Prod. 439 ; Drury Useful PI. of Ind, 254. 



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