128 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



outer epidermal cells 0.020 to 0.030 mm. in diameter, elongated on 

 surface view, inner and outer walls thickened; oil-secretion cells 

 with suberized walls; starch grains spheroidal or angular, single or 

 compound, 0.001 to 0.004 mm. in diameter; monoclinic prisms of 

 calcium oxalate few, 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in diameter. The powder of 

 the pericarp and seeds is pinkish and contains, in addition, scleren- 

 chymatous fibers which are non-lignified, relatively thin- walled and 

 with simple, slightly oblique pores; parenchyma frequently with 

 calcium oxalate crystals. The powder of Ceylon cardamom con- 

 tains the unicellular hairs of the capsule; and the cells, as also the 

 starch grains and calcium oxalate crystals, are larger. 



Constituents. Volatile oil 4 to 5 per cent, with a penetrating but 

 agreeable odor and a camphoraceous, burning taste; fixed oil 10 per 

 cent; starch about 3 per cent; calcium oxalate; ash 4 to 10 per cent. 

 The pericarp contains about 0.2 per cent of a volatile oil. 



Standard of Purity. Cardamom is the dried, nearly ripe fruit 

 of Etettaria Cardamomum White & Maton. 



Cardamom seed is the dried seed of cardamom. It contains 

 not more than 8 per cent of total ash, nor more than 3 per cent of 

 ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 



Allied Plants. Ceylon Cardamom is obtained from wild plants 

 of Elettaria major. The capsules are 2 to 4 cm. long and about 10 

 mm. in diameter, distinctly triangular in transverse section, deeply 

 longitudinally striate and slightly pubescent. In each loculus there 

 are about 20 seeds, which are about 4 mm. long, bitter and less 

 aromatic than the official cardamom. 



The so-called bastard cardamoms are yielded by one or more spe- 

 cies of Amonum, but these rarely find their way to market. 



MARANTACE^E OR ARROWROOT FAMILY 



Plants of this family are mostly perennial herbs having thick 

 fleshy rhizomes or tubers. They are found mostly in the tropics 

 and are represented by about 150 species. The leaves are long 

 petioled and characterized by a swollen, long, sac-like sheath at the 

 base. Sections of the leaf show a hypodermis with unusually large 

 cells. The petiole of the stem contains large lysigenous lacunae and 

 in the diaphrams is developed a star-shaped parenchyma. Calcium 

 oxalate occurs in the form of rod-like crystals. 



AMYLUM MARANT^E. Arrowroot Starch. The starch grains 

 obtained from the rhizomes of Maranta arundinacea (Fam. Maran- 

 tacese). The plant is indigenous to the West Indies and northern 



