  Class and Order. Diadelphia Decandria. Generic Character. Cal. patens. Cor. carina utrinque calcari subulato patulo. Legumen lineare. Specific Character and Synonyms. INDIGOFERA candicans foliis ternatis lanceolato-linearibus subtus sericeis, spicis pedunculatis paucifloris, leguminibus cylindraceis rectis. Ait. Hort. Kew. V. 3, p. 67. No 198. No198. Of the genus Indigofera, twenty-three species are enumerated in Prof. Murray's edition of the Syst. Vegetab. of LinnÆus; ten in the Hortus Kewensis of Mr. Aiton; in which last work only, the present plant, distinguished by the whiteness of its stalks and of the underside of its leaves, is described, and in which we are informed, that it is a native of the Cape, from whence it was introduced by Mr. Masson in 1774. Its principal period of flowering is from about the beginning of May to the middle of June, at which time it is highly ornamental in the green-house: strong healthy plants produce from five to eight blossoms in a spike: on a plant growing with Mr. Colvill, Nurseryman, King's-Road, Chelsea, we once counted nine: a few of these usually produce seed-vessels containing perfect seeds, by which the plant is mostly propagated; it may also be raised by cuttings, but not very readily. |
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