382 
USEFUL PLANTS OF THE DISTRICT OF LAKHIUPUU . 
Local name. — Metlii (see also No. 97). “ Fenugreek.” 
Distrib. — Kashmir, Punjab and the Upper Gangetic Plain. Widely 
cultivated in India. Also in West Asia and Southern Europe. 
Cultivated as a sag about Dibrugarh. The whole plant, especially when dried, has a strong 
smell. It is used in Switzerland for flavouring cheese. The ancients attributed many 
medicinal properties to this plant which is still much used in Egypt ; but present dwellers 
in Lakhimpur look upon it merely as a sag . They moreover confuse it with Meiilotxis 
indica All. a plant readily distinguished by its long racemes of yellow flowers and incons- 
picuous pods. The pods of fenugreek are about 3 inches long, often strongly curved, and 
have a long beak. 
79. Melilotus Juss. 
97. M. ' indica All. Eng. & Prantl iii, 3, 248; Beng. PI. 413. 
M . parviflora Desv. F. B. I. ii, 89 ; D. E. P. v, 225; Pharmacog. 
Ind. i, 405. 
Dibrugarh. No. 94. 
Local name. — MethI sag (this name properly belongs to Trigonella 
Fmtum-grtfcurn L. (No. 96). 
Distrib. — From the Punjab eastwards to Bengal, in the Western 
Peninsula and Afghanistan. Also in Europe and West Asia. 
Introduced in many other regions. 
An annual herb with 3-foliatc leaves and racemes of small yellow flowers. The 
pods are inconspicuous. It is used as a sag but is often confused with Trigonella Fa- 
num-gfascum Linn. 
89. Cyainopsis DC. 
98. €• tefragonolotoa Linn. Eng. & Prantl iii, 3, 259. 
C. psoralioides DC. F. B. I. ii. 92; Beng. PL 429; D. E. P. ii, 673. 
D olid to 8 fabaeformis Itoxb. FI. Ind. iii, 316. 
Sadiya. No. 80, 
Local name.-— Guar. 
Distrib. — From the Himalaya to the Western Peninsula and Ceylon, 
but perhaps always cultivated. .Also in Afghanistan. 
A hairy annual with 3-foliate leaves and dentate leaflets. It is grown in cottage 
gardens at Sadiya where the Marwarishave introduced it. The pods are eaton as a vegetable. 
81. Indigofcra Linn. 
99. I ani] Linn. DC. Prod, ii, 225 ; F. B. I. ii, 99 ; Eng. & Prantl 
iii, 3, 262 ; Prain & Baker in Journ. Bot. 1902, 136 — 44 ; D. E. P. iv, 383. 
7. svffrulicosa Mill. Beng. PI. 432. 
Jokai. No. 176. 
Local name.— Uangoni. i( West Indian Indigo.” 
