230 



lay name for A. Schoenanthus, A. citratiis (?) var. with narrow leaves. 

 This is grown in native gardens. . . . Not known to flower." 

 The late Dr. Dymock, of Bombay, stated he had " seen it in flower 

 more than once." There is no specimen named A. citratus in the 

 Peradeniya Herbarium, but Thwaites, under A. Martini refers to 

 " Lemon oil" as derived from A. Schcenanthiis, adding that it " rare- 

 ly flowers." 



Ferguson (Lc.) says of this grass : " The centres of the leaf-buds 

 are sold in every bazaar in Ceylon, and I believe it to be the plant 

 figured and described by Rumphius. About twenty years ago 

 Mrs. Winter, of Badegama, near Galle, sent me a specimen in 

 flower, and informed me it was the first flower that had been seen 

 for twenty years. After several years' careful cultivation in the 

 circular walk of the Botanic Garden several plants of it flowered 

 in January, 1878, from which I secured good specimens." 



A. citratus is a native of Bengal, and is more or less cultivated 

 all over India (Royle, lllust. Bot. Him. Mts." i. 442), but for the 

 distillation of the oil on a large scale only on the Malabar coast 

 in Travancore, on the northern slope of the mountains north of 

 Ajengo ("Pharmacographia Indica," vi. 564). It is widely distri- 

 buted in Singapore, various islands of the Indian Archipelago, 

 Ceylon, the Cameroons, the West coast of Mexico, Brazil, and the 

 West Indies, but in many parts it exists in varieties (Hackel makes 

 four varieties of the mother-species), doubtless the result of climate, 

 soil, &c. 



The shipments of lemon-grass oil from Cochin, on the coast of 

 Malabar, during the last few years were as follows : 



Season Bottles Seasnu Bottles 



1891-J ... ... 17,400 1x97-8 ... ... 37,800 



1892-3 ... ... 22,356 1898-9 ... ... 39,456 



1893-4 . . ... 27,984 18119-1900 ... ... 33,504 



1894-5 ... ... 28,440 1900-L ... .. 33,196 



1895-6 ... ... 36,840 1901-2 ... ... 27,864 



1896-7 ... .. 36,0ti0 i 1902-3 .. ... 33,684 



The bottles are common wine-bottles of about 620 grams capa- 

 city. They are packed in cases containing one dozen in each case. 



In Java the oil is called Sirc/i, but this name may also apply to 

 Tetranthcra citrata, a Javanese plant of very similar perfume. 



In Mexico a beverage called Tc Limon is made from lemon-grass. 



THE WEST INDIAN LEMON-GRASS 

 has not yet been identified botanically with any certainty, but a 

 specimen kindly supplied to the writer by the Director of the 

 Botanic Gardens, Jamaica, (Mr. Wm. Fawcett), has been forwarded 

 to the Kew Herbarium. 



The oils of both the West Indian lemon-grass and citronella 

 grass have been examined and reported upon by Mr. Cousins 

 (Government Chemist in Jamaica), Messrs. Schimmel & Co., of 

 Miltitz, and Mr. Ernest J. Parry, B.Sc, of London. All these 

 chemists reported favourably on both oils, but found the physical 

 properties of both to vary considerably from the Oriental product 



