adpressed 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, 1-3in. long ; pedicels short. Calyx 1/12 in. long, argento-canescent ; teeth short, deltoid. Corolla bright red, glabrous externally, generally ⅜-½in., reaching ¾-⅞in. long;the standard ⅜in. broad, reflexed in the expanded flower. Pod straight, turgid, glabrous, 1¼-1¾in. 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 Indigoferæ,' 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. tinctoria {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 Linnæus 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 indigo. It is also I. tinctoria, Linn. Sp. P1. (in part), and DeCandolle'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, Gœrtn. Fruct, ii, 371, t. 148. Syn. I. indica, Lamk — Vern. Nil. 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 I. argentea 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 shorter, 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).
