330 UMBELLIFER.E 



386. CORI AND RUM .CORIANDER 

 CORIANDER 



The dried ripe fruit of Corian'drum sati'vum Linne without admixture of more 

 than 5 per cent, of other fruit, seeds or other foreign matter. 



BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS. An annual herb about two feet high, with an 

 offensive, bedbug-like odor, with smooth stem and bipinnate leaves. Calyx 

 5 -toothed; petals obcordate (the exterior ones bifid), white, often with a pink 

 tinge. Capsules with primary ridges obsolete, the four secondary ones 

 prominently keeled. Fruit globose; seed covered with a loose membrane. 



HABITAT. Italy; cultivated in all parts of Europe and United States. 



DESCRIPTION or DRUG. Almost globular, about 3 mm. Q- in.) in 

 diameter, slightly pointed at the apex (style) and with the persistent 



calyx-teeth around the pedicel- 

 scar at the base. The two 

 concave, hemispherical meri- 

 carps are closely united at the 

 edge by the woody pericarp; 

 their outer surface is pale 

 yellowish-brown, sometimes 

 purplish-tinted, with five 



FIG. 192. Coriandrum sativum whole fruit and primary ribs merely indicated 



cross-section. . ,. 



by wavy, slightly raised lines, 



and four more prominent secondary ribs. The interior of the fruit 

 is a lenticular cavity. Odor fragrant (the odor of the fresh plant 

 and fruit is foetid, resembling bedbugs); taste aromatic. 



Powder. Characteristic elements: See Part iv, Chap. I, B. 



CONSTITUENTS. Volatile oil, % to i per cent., containing coriandrol, 



CioHisO, also dextropinene, fat, mucilage. Ash, not exceeding 7 



per cent. Soluble ether extract, 0.5 per cent. 

 ACTION AND USES. 'Feeble aromatic and stimulant; mostly used as an 



aromatic addition to, or a corrective of, purgative preparations. 



Dose: 8 to 30 gr. (0.5 to 2 Gm.). 



386 a. OLEUM CORIANDRL An almost colorless or yellowish volatile 

 oil with the characteristic aromatic odor and taste of the fruit; 

 specific gravity 0.863 to -&75> neutral in reaction. It is one of the 

 most stable of the volatile oils in its power of resisting oxidation 

 when exposed. It consists mainly of d-linalool or coriandrol, CioHisO. 

 Stimulant and carminative, like the other aromatic oils. Dose: i to 

 5 itR (0.065 to -3 mi l)- 



