A M O 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



A M O 



spring they must be hoed and thinned like Carrots, leaving 

 them four or five inches- asunder, and will afterwards require 

 no further care. It flowers in July, and is common in -our 

 gardens. The seeds are the only part of the plant used in 

 medicine ; like all other carminatives, they are good against 

 the colic, and are diuretic also; so that they are particularly 

 efficacious in colics arising from the stone in the kidneys 

 and urethra; they also promote the menses. 



2. Ammi Copticum. Leaves super-decompound, linear ; 

 seeds muricate. Stem smooth, and streaked ; corollas white, 

 equal, live-angular ; seeds aromatic. Found in Egypt. 



3. Ammi Glaucifolium ; Perennial Bishops' Weed. Sub- 

 divisions of all the leaves lanceolate. The stem is from one 

 to two feet high ; the plant is an annual. Native of the 

 south of France. It is hardy, thrives best on a moist soil, 

 and will grow in any open situation. 



Amomum ; a genus of the class Monandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 cylindraceous, unequally trifid. Corolla : monopetalous, 

 funnel-shaped ; tube cylindraceous ; border three parted ; 

 parts oblong, spreading, nectary two-leaved, or two-lipped ; 

 lower lip inserted under the upper segment of the corolla, 

 spreading, almost erect, entire, or three-Iobed. Staminn : 

 filamentum none, except the upper lip of the nectary, smaller 

 than the lower, and opposite to it, acuminate or three-lobed 

 at the tip ; along the middle, or at the end of which, grows 

 longitudinally a large oblong anther*, germinate, or divided 

 by a longitudinal furrow into two, which are one-valved. 

 Pistil: germcn inferior, oblong ; style filiform, drawn through 

 the suture of the antherae ; stigma turbinate, obtuse, ciliate. 

 Pericarp: capsule fleshy, ovate, three-cornered, three-celled, 

 three-valved. Setds .- several, covered with a sort of berried 

 aril. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : trifid, unequal, cylind- 

 ric. Corolla: three-parted, unequal, spreading. Nectary: 

 two-lipped, almost erect. All the species ot this genus are 

 tender, and require a warm stove to preserve them in this 

 country ; and are propagated by parting their roots, early 

 in the spring. In the West Indies, ginger thrives best in a 

 rich cool soil ; in a more clayey soil, the roots shrink less 

 in scalding. The land laid out for the culture of it, is first 

 well cleared and hoed, then slightly trenchetl, and planted 

 in March or April ; it flowers about September : when the 

 stalks are wholly withered, the roots are fit to take up, 



which is generally done in January and February. The 



species belonging to this genus are, 



1. Amomum Zinziber ; Narrow-leaved Ginger. Scape 

 middle-sized ; spike ovate ; leaves linear-lanceolate. The 

 corolla is a yellowish green. It is a native of the East Indies, 

 and largely cultivated both there and in the West Indies. 

 The root is less liable to heat the constitution, than might be 

 expected. A syrup, made from an infusion of three or four 

 ounces of the root in three pints of boiling water, is kept in 

 the shops. The cases in which it is more immediately ser- 

 viceable are flatulent colics, debility and laxity of the system, 

 and in torpid and phlegmatic constitutions, to excite a brisker 

 action of the vessels. Ginger is a warm and grateful aroma- 

 tic ; it strengthens the stomach, disperses wind, helps diges- 

 tion, prevents or cures the colic, and is useful in all cold fla- 

 tulent disorders and weaknesses of the intestines. It is one 

 of the best additions that can be made to rough purging me- 

 dicines, in order to prevent them from griping in theoperatiou. 



2. Amomum Zerum bet ; Broad-leaved Ginger, or Zerumbet. 

 Scape naked ; spike oblong, obtuse. Culm four feet high, 

 perennial, straight, and quite simple ; corolla pale. It is a 

 native of the East Indies, Cochin-china, Otaheite, and the 

 other Society Isles. It flowers with us from September to 



VOL. i. 8. 



November ; and is used in the East externally in cataplasms 

 and fomentations. The root is used as warm and good in all 

 nervous cases, its virtues nearly resembling those of Zedoary, 

 which is often sold under its name, though in reality it is a 

 much longer and larger root than the Zedoary itself. 



3. Amomum Sylvestre ; Great Wild Ginger. Scape naked ; 

 spike elongate, with oblong ventricose bractes ; leaves broad 

 lanceolate. This resembles the foregoing species, but grows 

 higher. It is a native of Jamaica, where it is common in the 

 woods. The root is warm, and gently stimulant ; it may 

 be properly administered as a stomachic and alexipharmic. 



4. Amomum Mioga ; Japanese Ginger. Scape very short ; 

 capsule ovate ; leaves ensiform, acute. Root fusiform, fibrose, 

 aromatic. A native of Japan, where it flowers in September. 



5. Amomum Cardamomum ; Cardamom. Scape very sim- 

 ple, and short ; bractes alternate, loose. It has thick fleshy 

 roots, which in the spring send forth many green reed-like 

 stalks, which rise to the height of seven or eight feet, gar- 

 nished with very long narrow leaves ; but it has not yet 

 flowered in England. The seeds are the only parts used in 

 medicine, and when freed from their husks are a grateful aro- 

 matic, warm, but not fiery ; not heating and inflaming, like 

 many other seeds of this nature. The seeds should never be 

 separated from their husks till wanted for use, for in that case 

 they loose much of their flavour and virtue. They are an ex- 

 cellent cordial, and peculiarly grateful to the stomach, dis- 

 persing wind, creating an appetite, and strengthening the di- 

 gestive faculties. There is a spirituous distilled water and 

 tincture of them kept- in the shops, either of which are more 

 agreeable than the seeds themselves, and equally efficacious. 

 A glass taken after eating flatulent food, is serviceable in pre- 

 venting or removing that disagreeable eructation or rising 

 which frequently succeeds. The tincture is also occasionally 

 used as a pleasant warm cordial, as well as for flavouring 

 other medicines. The Lesser Cardamom seeds are said to 

 be excellent for colics and disorders of the head, when chewed 

 singly in the mouth ; and their taste is not at all disagreeable. 



6. Amomum Villosum. Scape short, reclining ; bractes 

 linear : fruit villose. Culm six feet high ; corolla pale. The 

 smell of the whole plant is aromatic, mild, and slightly 

 sharp. The root has a sweetish and pleasant taste when 

 fresh. It is a native of China ; where the seeds are in much 

 request as a medicine. 



7. Amomum Medium. Spine cauline, branched ; fruit 

 oblong, streaked, valveless. Culm straight, single, eight 

 feet high. Native of Yunan, in China : where the seeds are 

 used in agues ; for culinary purposes ; and to increase the 

 strength of any odours whatever. 



8. Amomum Globosum. Spike cauline, branched ; fruit 

 globose, with an even surface. Culm four feet high. A na- 

 tive of China and Cochin-china ; and used medicinally in 

 both countries, in disorders of the bowels, &c. 



9. Amomum Hirsutum. Spike cauline, simple, reclining; 

 fruit roundish, hirsute. Culm six feet high ; the smell and 

 taste very weak.. A native of Cochin-china, in woods. 



10. Amomum Granum Paradisi ; Grains of Paradise. 

 Scape branching, very short. It is a native of Guinea, and 

 of the islands of Ceylon and Madagascar, from whence we 

 receive the seeds, which are of a warm aromatic nature, much 

 resembling pepper, for which they are frequently substituted 

 in many places. They are but little used in medicine, but 

 might prove useful in cold flatulent disorders, the colic, &c. 



11. Amomum Galanga; Galangule. Spike cauline, erect ; 

 spathes nearly three-flowered ; capsule three-cornered-ovate, 

 smooth. The culm is perennial, entirely simple, upright, 

 smooth, and six feet high. The smell of the whole plant is 



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