732 CXXTI. SCITAMlNE.i;. 



KoNKANS <an(l GrJARAT, Nimmo ex Graham. I have seen no speeimens from the 

 Bombay rresideney ; tliere are none in Herb. Kew. Wooclrow in his list merely 

 quotes JN"iinmo. — Distrib. India (Bengal, W. Peninsula); Malay Peninsula and 

 Archipelago. 



The plant is often cultivated and known as the Mango-Ginger ; the tubers when 

 fresh have somewhat the odor of a green Mango, hence the name. They are employed 

 in native medicine as carminative and stomachic. See Watt, Diet. Econ, Prod. 1. c. 



Curcuma zedoaria, Eosc. Mojiandr. PI. (1828) t. 109. Eootstock of 

 palniately-branched sessile cylindric oblong annulate tubers, pale yellow 

 inside, with a camphoraceous odor and bitterish spicy taste, also bearing 

 long flesh V fibres that terminate in smaller oblong less fragrant tubers. 

 Leaves 4-6 with long petioles, 1-2 ft. long, oblong-lanceolate, finely 

 acuminate, glabrous on both surfaces, clouded with purple down the 

 middle. Flowering stem 8-10 in. long, appearing before the leaves, 

 stout, clothed with obtuse sheaths. Flowers yellow in spikes 3-5 by 

 2-3 in, ; flowering bracts 1| iu. long, ovate, recurved, cymbiform, green 

 tinged with red ; bracts of the coma reaching 2 in. long, crimson or 

 purple. Calyx ^ in. long, obtusely 3-toothed. Corolla-tube twice as 

 long as the calyx, funnel-shaped ; lateral lobes oblong, the dorsal lobe 

 larger, vaulted, arching over the anther. Lip | in. broad, suborbicular, 

 deflesed, obscurely 3-lobed, deep yellow. Capsule ovoid, 3-gonous, thin, 

 smooth, bursting irregularly. ISeeds ellipsoid with a white lacerate aril. 

 Fl. B. I. V. 6, p. 210 ; Trim. FL Ceyl. v. 4, p. 241 ; Woodr. in Journ. 

 Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1899) p. 520 ; K. Sebum, in Engler, Pflanzenreich, 

 V. 4, part 46 (1904) p. 110; Prain, Beng. PL p. 1041 ; Watt, Diet. Econ. 

 Prodr. V. 2, p. 669. Curcuma Zerumhet, Roxb. in Asiat. Ees. v. 11 (1810) 

 p. 333 ; Grab. Cat. p. 209. — Verk. Kachora. 



Not wild in the Bombay Presidency ; cultivated more or less throughout India ; 

 said to be wild in the Eastern Himalaya and in Chittagong. 



The tubers are employed in native medicine as a stomacliic and also as an application 

 to bruises and sprains. Powdered and dried they used to form one of the constituents 

 of the red powder used by the Hindus at the Holi festival. See Watt, Diet. Econ. 

 Prod. 1. c. 



Curcuma longa, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753) p. 2. A tall herb; rootstock 

 large, ovoid, with sessile cylindric tubers orange inside. Leaves very 

 large, in tufts, reaching 4 ft. or more long (including a petiole about as 

 long as the blade), oblong lanceolate, tapering to the base. Flowers in 

 autumnal spikes 4-6 by 2 in.; peduncles 6 in. long or more, hidden by 

 the sheatliiug petiole ; flowering bracts pale green ; bracts of the coma 

 tinged with pink. The plant is cultivated all over India for the turmeric 

 obtained from its rhizomes, but is doubtfully wild any^^here in India, 

 though INIr. Clarke considers it to be wild in Behar, and Prain says it 

 may perhaps be indigenous in Chotja Xagpur. AV^att (Diet. Econ. Prod. 

 V. 2, p. 660) suggests that it may have been introduced from China or 

 Cochinchina. It is largely cultivated in the Bombay Presidency in 

 places where the soil is good and the water-supply abundant, Fl. B. I. 

 V. 6, p. 214 ; Grab. Cat. p. 209 ; Dalz. ct Gibs. p. 87 ; AVoodr. in Journ. 

 Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1890) p. 520 ; K. Schinn. in Engler, Pflanzenreich, 

 V. 4, part 46 (1904) p. 1<>8; Prain, Beng. PI. p. 1041; AVatt, Diet. Econ. 

 Prod. v. 2, p. 659.— A'ekx. JlaMi. 



