302 CXXXIV. SCITAMINE (BAKER). [ Costus. 
13. ©. giganteus, Welw. ex Ridley in Journ. Bot. 1887, 131. 
Terrestrial. Rootstock creeping. Leafy stems erect, very stout, 
reaching to a length of 20-24 ft. Leaves 1-2 ft. long, 4-5 in. broad 
above the middle, acute, quite glabrous on both sides, narrowed 
gradually to a short broad petiole ; ligule truncate, above } in. long. 
Scapes in tufts from the rootstock, 4-10 ft. long, 14 in. diam. ; spikes. 
oblong, 5-6 in. long, 3-4 in. diam.; lower bracts, 24 in. broad. Calyx 
2 in. long; lobes shorter than the tube. Corolla-lobes oblong, acute, 
2 in. long. Lip not much longer than the corolla-lobes, fimbriate at: 
the margin; anther placed above the middle of its acute petaloid 
connective.—Schumann in Engl. Jahrb. xv. 422. 
Lower Guinea. St. Thomas and Princes Islands, Mann, 1146! Island of 
St. Thomas; Mount Caffé, by streams in primeval woods, 2000-2800 ft., Welwitsch, 
6465 ! 
4, AMOMUM, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Pl. iii. 644. 
Calyx funnel-shaped, obscurely toothed, shortly slit down one side. 
Corolla-tube cylindrical, not much longer than the calyx; upper lobe 
arcuate, oblong-navicular, 2 lower spreading, lanceolate. Lateral 
staminodia suppressed; lip large, petaloid, usually obovate-cuneate ;. 
fertile stamen with a narrow or filiform filament, two divergent 
anther-cells and, in the Tropical African species, a 3-lobed petaloid 
crest. Ovary 3-celled; ovules many in a cell; style filiform ; stigma 
subglobose, ciliate round the margin; stylodia gland-like, fleshy. 
Fruit ovoid, acuminate, with a thick fleshy pericarp. Seeds subglobose 
or angled by pressure, with a thin papery aril and straight central 
embryo.—Rootstock not fleshy. Leafy stem distinct from the flower- 
ing stems. Flowers solitary or in dense spikes, with imbricate scarlose 
bracts. Lip large and decorative. Seeds of some of the species 
aromatic (Grains of Paradise). 
Species 100, the others Tropical Asiatic and Polynesian. 
*Flower-spikes sessile or shortly peduncled. 
Lip large, obovate-cuneate. 
Flowers solitary. 
Fruit not sulcate vertically. 
Crest of anther ovate cuspidate . ; . 1. A. arundinaceum. 
Crest of anther square . e : : . 2, A. Melegueta. 
Fruit sulcate vertically . S - ` . 8, A. sulcatum. 
Flowers few in a spike. 
Leaves glabrous. 
Leaves 1 13 in. broad. 
Leafy stem 2-3 ft. long . ; : . 4. A. alboviolaceum. ` 
Leafy stem 4—5 ft. long . S . . 5, A.Granum-Paradist.- 
Leaves 2-3 in. broad, 
Leaves narrowed to the base. 
Leaves subsessile, 
