CURCUMA. 



those which contain flowers. Calyx scarcely i the length of the corolla, 

 irregularly 3-toothetl, pellucid. Corolla tunnel-shaped ; tube a little 

 curved. Limb double : exterior 3 -parted, the 2 lateral segments 

 equal ; the third or upper one vaulted, and crowned with a subulate 

 point ; colour a very faint yellow : interior 3-parted, lip broad, deep 

 yellow, projecting, recurved, bifid ; upper or lateral segments, obovate, 

 equal, pale yellow, nearly as long as the lip. Filament short. Anther 

 double, the lobes terminating at the base in a subulate spur. Ovary 

 hairy, 3-celled, with many ovules in each cell. Stigma 2-lobed, sur- 

 mounting the anther. Capsule oval, smooth, pale straw-colour, thin 

 and nearly pellucid, 3-celled ; but without any regular division 

 into valves : when the seeds are ripe, the elasticity of the segments of 

 the arils bursts the vertex into various portions, from whence the seeds 

 are soon expelled. Seeds numerous, arillate, usually oblong. Aril 

 deeply lacerated, with unequal, white, fleshy segments. Albumen white, 

 hard, and friable. Vitellus less white, and tougher than the albumen, 

 occupying the upper half of the seeds. Embryo nearly as long as the 

 seed, "truncate ; the upper half lodged in the vitellus, and the lower 

 in the albumen. Roxb. — The Zedoaria longa of the shops. See 

 C. Zedoaria. 



1186. C. Zedoaria Roxb. fi. ind. i. 23. N. and E. i. 243. — 

 Bengal, China, and various other parts of Asia, and the Asiatic 

 islands. (Jedwar or Zadwar Arab.) 



Tubers biennial, &c. as in the last, and inwardly of a pretty deep 

 yellow colour, approaching to that of turmeric. Stem no other 

 than the sheaths of the leaves. Leaves petioled, broad-lanceolate, 

 entire, underneath covered with soft sericeous down, which is particu- 

 larly conspicuous when the leaves are dry. The scape rises distinct 

 from the leaves during the dry season, and often not only at some dis- 

 tance, but also some time before them : it is round, as thick as a man's 

 forefinger, a few inches long, and embraced by its own short, proper, 

 green sheaths. Spike from 6 to 12 inches long, &c. exactly as in 

 the last species. Bractes and calyx as in the before-mentioned 

 species. Corolla ]-petalled, at the base tubular; tube short, widen- 

 ing a little; its mouth shut with fine yellow pubescent glands; 

 throat ample. Border double ; exterior of 3 pale pink-coloured, erect, 

 oblong divisions ; the upper one more pointed and incumbent over the 

 anther and part of the 2 upper divisions of the inner border. Interior 

 somewhat ringent, 3-parted, fleshy, yellow ; the lower lobe or lip longest, 

 obovate, entire, projecting with a crown and erect margin, while abroad 

 elevation of a deep yellow colour runs along its middle ; upper 2 

 divisions obovate, and with the upper segment of the exterior border, 

 forming a complete covering or dome over the anther. — The Zedoaria 

 rotunda of the shops. Employed in cardialgia, colic, cramp in the 

 limbs, torpor of the intestinal canal, &c. The Hindoos use the roots 

 as a perfume, as well as medicinally. Aromatic, stomachic, carminative, 

 similar in properties to Ginger but less efficient- M. Fee still refers 

 the Zedoaria rotunda to Ka^mpferia rotunda, notwithstanding the 

 express declaration of Roxburgh that the tubers of that plant possess 

 little or nothing of the sensible properties of Zedoary. 



1187. C. rubescens Roxb.fi. ind. i. 28 — Bengal. 



All the parts have a pleasant aromatic smell when bruised, especially 

 561 O o 



