94 ODOPtOGRAPHIA. 



flowers, which are of various shades of purple and white, from four 

 to six on each scape. The scapes are just sufficiently long to 

 elevate the flowers from the earth, embraced by a few common 

 sheaths of a greenish-purple colour. 



The flowering time is March and April, at which period the 

 plant is totally destitute of leaves, which appear when the flowers 

 begin to decay (as in species of Curcuma), are radical, petioled, 

 oblong, waved, smooth, generally coloured beneath, and, in good 

 soil, about a foot long and four to six inches broad. 



For Galanga alba, Konig, see Amomum medium.Lour. 



Ginger. 



This very useful aromatic is furnished by the roots of Zinrjiher 

 officinale, Eoscoe (Amomum Zingiber, Lin.) ; (Bentley & Trimen, 

 Med. Plants, t. 270 ; Pereira, Mat. Med., ii., Pt. i., p. 231). 



The genus Zingiber consists of herbaceous Indian plants, with 

 creeping, jointed, woody rootstocks, from which are sent up every 

 year stems surrounded by sheathing leaves arranged in two ranks. 

 The flowers are borne in cone-shaped spikes, thrown up from the 

 rootstock and protected by bractes. 



Z. Officinale is a native of tropical Asia, and is largely 

 cultivated both in the East and A¥est Indies ; also in Africa 

 (Sierra Leone), Siam (a so-called ginger) and in Queensland, in 

 Australia. 



The quality and commercial value of the dried rhizome differs 

 considerably in different localities, and is influenced very much by 

 the method of cultivation, collection and preparation. 



The method of cultivation in Jamaica has been described* as 

 follows : — " The most suitable soil for ginger culture is a well- 

 drained clavev loam. The land should be well dug- and cleared of 

 weeds. Small pieces or protuberances of the root, one or two 

 inches long, are planted during March or April, four inches deep 

 and nine to twelve inches apart. It is well to cover the land with 

 a moulding of dead leaves, straw, or litter mixed with manure. 

 In a few months the whole ground will be covered. The flowers 

 appear in September. When the stalks wither in the following 



* Bulletin of the Botanical Department of Jamaica, December, 1891. 



