AFRICAN SPECIES OF AMOMUM. 293 



they yield. In these and in very many similar caseSj the diagnosis 

 which is of the greatest importance in estimating the commereial value 

 of the product, is a speciality of the variety sought^ and is due to the 

 time of collecting, its mode of preparation, or of the particular part 

 of the plant from which the article is collected, and is not the ex- 

 pression of any natural characters by which the species producing it 

 can be recognized scientifically. 



§ 1. Tlores solitarii. 



1- Amomum Melegueta^ Eoscoe, Mon. Plants.; foliis auguste lanceo- 

 latisj vaginis gracilibuSj scapo 1-floro, bractels lineari-oblongis cuspida- 

 tis, perianthio exteriore spathaceo acuminato, interiore foliolo dorsali 

 oblongo, lateralibus e basi lanceolata sensim acuminatis, labello late 

 obovato-quadrato margine undulato crispato, filamenti processubus 

 lateralibus subulatis, antherae lobo terminal! subtriangulari apice in- 

 tegro obtuso dentate v. bifido angulis lateralibus subelongatis subu- 

 latisve, ovario glabro, staminodiis liberis subulatis, fructu anipullaceo 

 ovato V. elliptico-oblongo glabro, perianthii tubo sequilongo coronato, 

 seminibus angulato-globosis pallide brunneis, testa nitida verruculata- 

 Pereira^ in Pharm, Journ. v, Q, p. 412 j Mat. MecL v. 3./?. 1131. 

 f. 235-241. Guibourty Hist. Nat. des Drogues simples^ v. 2. p. 222, 

 Hab. Accra, Yorruba, and Sierra Leone, Dr. DanielL Nom. vern. 



"Attare," West Africa, and "Tokolo nipomah" of Fernando Po. 



Folia angusta, basi acuta, apice longe acuminata, spitharasea ad bipc- 

 dalia, laete viridia, nervis costa parallelis, ligula truncata brevi, vagina 

 valde clongata. Scapus saepissime valde arcuatus, gracilis, 2-4 unc. 

 longus. Dractecs numerosse, subdistichse, appressa^, 1-2 unc. longae, 

 apice rotundatne et cuspide basi lata dorsali instructae, luride virides. 

 Flares odori, magnitudine variabiles, PeriantJiii intemi tuhus foliolis 

 sequilongus, utrinque sulcatus, foliolo dorsali multinervi, labello albido 

 extus marginibusque pnrpureo tincto, intus secas medium aureo, 

 Antherce lobo terminal! albido, marginibus roseis. Staminodia subu- 

 lata, acuta v. emarginata- Stylus dorso incrassatus, stigraate aureo. 

 Fructus carnosus, 1-5 unc. longus, forma varia, elliptica, arapullacea, 

 oblonga, v. ovato-oblonga, v. obpyriformis, glaberrima, pulpa carnosa. 

 Semina valde aromatica et pungentia, -} unc. longa, colore varia, in- 

 tensiore v. .pallidiore, areola conica ad Mlum plus minusve elongata 

 lutea V. subnulla. 



