102 SOME RARE KINDS OF CARDAMOM. 



isss. The capsules of Amomum xanthioides, received by me under 



the name / 'fzi. ffi^Sha-jin-ko, 1 had been deprived of seeds ; 

 indeed, the terminal syllable in the Chinese name signifies husk 

 or shell. Yet from a few capsules which had escaped the shelling 

 process, I had an opportunity of examining the seeds which, I 

 suspected, were not unknown in the English market. I believed 

 them to constitute the Cardamom Seeds 2 occasionally offered at 

 the London drug sales, and which I had traced to Moulmein 

 and Penang. 

 Bastard This opinion has been unexpectedly confirmed. While this 



Cardamoms. no ti ce was i n the hands of the printer, I received through the 

 kindness of E. Padday, Esq., of Singapore, three samples of 

 " Bastard Cardamoms " obtained from Bangkok in Siam. These 

 Bastard Cardamoms have mostly been deprived of the husks, 

 the seeds are either detached, or united with the partitions into 

 three -lobed masses. But the fruits retaining the husk are so 

 evidently those of Amomum xanthioides that I have no hesita- 

 tion in referring the Bastard Cardamoms to that species. I 

 also identify them with the Cardamom Seeds of the London 

 market. 



The seeds of A. xanthioides much resemble those of the 

 Malabar Cardamom, but are not so rugose : they are, however, 

 distinguishable by their peculiar aromatic taste and smell. 



Capsules of The empty capsules received from China are mostly attached 

 to a commou stalk > which, when perfect, is about five inches 

 long, and beset with the remains of sheathing bracts. The 

 superior portion, which is much stouter than the rest, bears the 

 fruits closely crowded together on short, bracted pedicels. No 

 bunch in my possession bears more than twelve fruits, but 

 from the number of pedicels on some specimens it would appear 

 that the flowers at least are often twice as numerous. The 

 capsules having been deprived of seeds are shrunken and com- 

 pressed, but after soaking in boiling water they acquire their 



1 I do not attach much value to this Chinese name, which, I think, is some- 

 times applied to the Hairy China Cardamom. 



2 I mean the seeds per se. Malabar Cardamoms deprived of pericarp are 

 I believe, never imported. 



