242 BOTANY AND I'HARMACOGNOSY. 



matting. In Holland the rush is grown on the embankments 

 along the coast to prevent the action of the tides. 



VI. ORDER SCITAMINALES OR SCITAMINE^. 



The plants of this order are mostly found in the Tropics and 

 are perennial herbs with fleshy rhizomes. The leaves are large, 

 more or less elliptical and pinnately veined. The leaf sheaths close 

 tightly around each other and form a kind of false stem. The 

 flowers are cpig}'nous, unsymmetrical or zygomorphic, and fre- 

 quently only one stamen is completely developed. 



a. THE ZINGIBERACE^ OR GINGER FAMILY is dis- 

 tinguished from the other Scitamineae by the fact that the seeds 

 have endosperm as well as perisperm. The plants are rich in 

 volatile oils and a number are used in medicine and perfumery. 



Zingiber officinale yields the official ginger (p. 486). From 

 a creeping, flesh}^ branching and laterally compressed rhizome 

 arises a stem about i M. high bearing numerous lanceolate leaves. 

 The flowering stalk arises directly from the rhizome, terminating 

 in a spike which bears flowers having greenish-yellow petals with 

 violet or purple stripes (Fig. 132). 



Elettaria Cardamomum {E. re pens) yields the cardamom of 

 the several pharmacopoeias (p. 581). The plant has a leafy as 

 well as floraFstem which rises from a tuberous rhizome. The 

 leaves are broadly lanceolate. The flowers are greenish-white, 

 the labellum (consisting of two petal-like staminodes) being 

 bluish. The fruit is a capsule, and the seeds are the part used in 

 medicine. 



The so-called paradise grains are the seeds of Aiiioiiutni 

 Melegueta growing in Western Africa. They are about 3 mm. m 

 diameter, dark brown, nearly smooth. frial)le and contain a vola- 

 tile oil. 



Galangal, which is used in perfumery, is the rhizome of 

 Alpinia Galanga growing in the East Indies and cultivated in 

 China and Bengal. It is frequently referred to as " Galangal 

 major " to distinguish it from the rhizome of Alpinia officinariim 

 growing in China near Hainan. Galangal occurs in short, branched 

 pieces of a reddish-brown color, with numerous circular scars 



J 



