CRUDE DRUGS. 



563 



Description. Mericarps usually coherent; cremocarp (Fig. 

 245) nearly globular, 4 to 5 mm. in diameter, externally light 

 brown or rose-colored, with ten prominent, straight, longitudinal 

 primary ribs, between which are faint, somewhat undulate sec- 

 ondary ribs, apex with 5 calyx teeth and a conical stylopodium 

 about 0.5 mm. long, internally with a slender carpophore attached 

 to each mericarp, the latter grayish-purple, concavo-convex, with 

 two vittae on the commissural surface ; seed plano-convex, with a 

 small embryo at the upper end of the reserve layer ; odor and 

 taste aromatic. 



Fig. 245. Coriander: A, cremocarp showing remains of two stigmas (a), stylopodia 

 (thickened persistent styles) (b), calyx teeth (c), straight primary ribs (d) and wavy, some- 

 what obscure, secondary ribs (e); B, transverse section of the cremocarp showing primary 

 ribs (a), secondary ribs (d), vittae (c) on commissural side, and seed (b). After Bastin. 



Constituents. Volatile oil 0.5 to i per cent. ; fixed oil about 

 13 per cent.; tannin; calcium oxalate; ash about 5 per cent. 

 The volatile oil consists of about 90 per cent, of d-linalool (cori- 

 androl), about 5 per cent, of d-pinene and some other con- 

 stituents. 



The unripe fruits are said to yield a volatile oil that has a 

 fetid, bedbug-like odor, which it loses on keeping. 



FCENICULUM. FENNEL. The fruit o{ Fccnicuhnn vul- 

 gare, and of the var. didce (Fam. Umbelliferse), perennial herbs 

 indigenous to the Mediterranean region of Europe and Asia, and 

 cultivated in France, Galicia, Germany, Roumania, Russia, India, 

 and Japan. The fruit is collected when ripe and dried. That 



