184 PHILIPPINE RESINS, GUMS, AND OILS 



centimeters long and 8 to 15 centimeters wide. The flower stalks 

 spring directly from the rootstocks and not from the leaf tuft, 

 and often appear before the leaves. The spike is cylindrical, 

 5 to 8 centimeters in diameter and 10 to 15 centimeters long, 

 and is composed of numerous somewhat spreading, rounded 

 bracts, the lower of which are green and more or less tipped 

 with pink, the upper ones usually longer and purple, each con- 

 taining several flowers, of which the lower open first. The 

 corolla tube is about 2 centimeters long, yellowish-white, some- 

 times tinged with purple. 



This species is probably a native of India, but is now widely 

 distributed in the warmer parts of the eastern hemisphere. It 

 is common and widely distributed in thickets and open places 

 in the settled parts of the Philippines. 



Genus ZINGIBER 

 ZINGIBER OFFICINALE Bosc. GiNGER. 



Local names: Agdt (Pangasinan) ; gengibre (Spanish); Iciya (Pam- 

 panga) ; layci (Abra, Ilocos Norte and Sur, Capiz, Iloilo) ; la-yd or lay-d 

 (Zambales, Camarines, Albay, Sorsogon) ; luya (Tarlac, Bulacan, Bataan, 

 Rizal, Laguna, Manila, Batangas, Tayabas, Mindoro, Marinduque) ; luy-d 

 (Albay, Iloilo, Occidental Negros, Misamis, Cuyo Islands). 



GINGER 



Zingiber officinale is cultivated in all parts of the Philippines, 

 but never on a large scale, and is not exported. The dried root 

 of this plant has a pungent, aromatic odor and is commonly 

 known as ginger. Ginger is used as a condiment and as a fla- 

 voring agent. It is also employed medicinally as an aromatic 

 stimulant and carminative, and is given in cases of dyspepsia 

 and flatulent colic. It is utilized in the manufacture of ginger 

 beer and ginger ale and also as a spice and a confection. 



Ginger consists essentially of a volatile oil, a resin, and starch. 

 Its pungency is due to the resin it contains, while the aroma is 

 given by the volatile oil. An analysis of Calcutta ginger quoted 

 by Leach * gave the following results : 



Water 9.60 



Ash 7.02 



Volatile oil 2.27 



Fixed oil and resin 4.58 



Starch 49.34 



Crude fibre 7.45 



Albuminoids 6.30 



Undeteraiined _ 13.44 



Nitrogen 1.01 



* Leach, A. E., Food inspection and analysis (1914), page 446. 



