Abstract
IN the Journal of Botany for April, H. W. Pugsley gives the first part of an article on the “British Capreolate Fumitories.” Messrs. David Prain and Edmund Baker complete their “Notes on Indigofera.” The various forms that have been included in the species Indigofera tinctoria, L., and Indigofera Anil, L., receive the fullest treatment, and the authors come to the following conclusions:—I. tinctoria, L., has been applied to three forms: (1) the wild form, which is probably indigenous to Africa; (2) the variety of the previous one, cultivated in southern India, at the present day more especially in Madras; (3) the plant cultivated in northern India, known as “Nil”; the differences between this and the other cultivated variety are so pronounced and constant that it seems justifiable to separate it off, when it becomes I. sumatrana, Gaertner. The specific name Anil, also given by Linnæus, is connected with the Egyptian vernacular word “Nil,” which indicates any species that supplies the Indigo dye. In Egypt “Nil” would refer to I. articulata, Gouan, in India to I. tinctoria, L., while in neither of these countries would it include I. Anil, L., which will not grow in Egypt and does not find favour in southern India. De Candolle instituted three varieties of I. Anil, L., of which two call for comment. Var. α oligophylla is the same-plant as I. truxillensis, H.B.K., which was probably cultivated in the West Indies in the time of Hans Sloane. Var. β. polyphylla is the plant now cultivated in the West Indies and other parts of the New World. This is the true I. Anil, L., but, to avoid any confusion which may arise from the use of that specific name, it is suggested that it should be established, under another synonym, as I. suffruticosa, Miller. Arthur. Bennett continues his “Notes-on Potamogeton,” and deals with some foreign species from Australia, America and Japan. The most interesting of four new British Hepaticæ described by. S. M. Macvicar is Aneura incurvata. It comes near to A. multifida and A. sinuata. It may be expected to be recorded again, as it has been found in Austria, Germany and Scandinavia.
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Scientific Serial . Nature 66, 21 (1902). https://doi.org/10.1038/066021a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/066021a0