578 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



aromatics, pimento has derived its popular name of allspice, and, from its being 

 cheaper than black pepper, its consumption is very great. 



Though but a lowly root, Ginger almost vies in commercial importance with the 

 aromatic rind of the cinnamon-laurel, or the pungent fruit of the nutmeg-myrtle. 

 The plant which produces this valuable condiment belongs to the tropical family of 

 the Scitamineae, or spice-lilies, which also reckons among its members the Cardomum 

 and the Curcuma. Its jointed tubers creep and increase under ground, and from 

 each of them springs up an annual stem about two feet and a half high, with narrow 

 and lanceolate leaves. The flowering stalk rises directly from the root, ending in an 

 oblong, scaly spike ; from each of these scales a single white and blue flower is pro- 

 duced. Ginger is imported into this country, under the form of dried roots and as 

 a preserve. We receive it both from the East and West Indies, but that from the 

 latter is much superior in quality to the former. 



