CARDAMOM 



127 



Malabar Cardamom. Capsule loculicidally dehiscent, broadly 

 ellipsoidal, occasionally ovoid, more or less triangular in transverse 

 section, 10 to 17 mm. long, 6 to 8 mm. in diameter, pericarp about 

 0.5 mm. thick; externally light brown or faintly pink, summit slightly 

 beaked, and with remnants of style, base rounded, with scar of stalk, 

 longitudinally striate, 3-grooved, 3-valved, 3-locular, dissepiments 

 thin; seeds 15 to 18 in number, anatropous, irregularly angular, 

 enclosed in a thin membranous aril, about 3 mm. long, externally 

 dark reddish-brown, deeply wrinkled, embryo small, straight, endo- 

 sperm and perisperm distinct; odor aromatic; taste aromatic, pun- 

 gent. 



FIG. 54. Cardamom: A, transverse section showing the arillus (h), the several 

 layers of the seedcoat (T, I, V), perisperm (1), endosperm (2) and embryo 

 (3) at the center. B, transverse section of the seedcoat and perisperm of 

 Malabar cardamom showing epidermal cells (o), cells having a brown con- 

 tent (qu), cells containing ethereal oil (p), brown stone cells (St) with very 

 thick inner walls, and perisperm (e), the cells of which contain numerous 

 small starch grains and usually a pair of small crystals which may be seen on 

 treating sections with solutions of hydrated chloral. A, after Meyer; B, 

 after Moeller. 







Mysore Cardamom. Ovoid, somewhat oblong, white or very 

 light brown, 12 to 20 mm. long, 7 to 9 mm. in diameter, nearly 

 smooth or faintly longitudinally striate; seeds 9 to 12, and less 

 pungent than those of Malabar Cardamom. 



Inner Structure. See Fig. 54. 



Powder. Greenish-brown; stone cells dark brown, slightly 

 elongated, 0.015 to 0.025 mm. in diameter, the inner wall thickened; 



