AMOMUM. 



3-lobed concave crest. Ovary downy, crowned with the 2 sterile 

 stamens which in this species are short and truncated. Capsules sessile, 

 size of a black currant, globular, somewhat depressed. Seeds roundish, 

 angular, dotted, brown. Seeds agreeably aromatic, used by the 

 Malays as a substitute for the true Cardamoms of Malabar, the produce 

 of Elettaria Cardamomum. Fruit said by Nees and Ebermaier to be 

 the round Cardamoms of the shops. According to Smith it is the 

 Amomum verum of the old apothecaries. Rees cycl. suppl. 



1195. A. angustifolium Sonnerat. it. ii. t. 137. Roxb.fi. ind. 

 i. 39. Smith in Rees cycl. suppl. Madagascar, in marshy 

 ground ; cultivated in the Mauritius. 



Rhizoma horizontal, emitting strong fleshy fibres. Stems 6-10 feet 

 high. Leaves lanceolate, much acuminated, 12-18 inches long, 4-6 

 inches broad. Scape radical, 6-12 inches long, closely imbricated 

 with mucronate sheathing scales. Spikes linear-oblong, size of the 

 thumb, imbricated with scales like those of the stem, but the inner 

 more deeply coloured. Flowers pretty large, with a strong spicy fra- 

 grance. Calyx deep blood red, obscurely 3-toothed, slit. Tube of 

 corolla clavate, length of bracts ; outer series red, consisting of one 

 large erect concave segment which covers the anther and stigma, and 

 of two inferior very narrow segments. Lip obovate wedge-shaped, 

 3-lobed, yellow, about as long as the outer limb. Capsule ovate, pointed, 

 striated. Seeds globular, abrupt at the base. Every part when bruised 

 or wounded diffuses a strong but pleasant aromatic smell. The fruit is 

 the Cardamomum majus of old authors, the great or Madagascar Car- 

 damom of Smith. The seeds are said by the latter author to have 

 none of the vehement hot acrid taste of Grains of Paradise, Amomum 

 Grana Paradisi, No. 1197. 



1196. A. aromaticum Roxb.fi. ind. i. 45. Valleys on the 

 eastern frontier of Bengal. 



Rhizoma running for a small extent under the surface of the soil. 

 Stems in tufts, erect, from 2 to 3 feet high, and lasting from 1 to 2 years. 

 Leaves bifarious, lanceolate, acuminate, smooth; from 10 to 12 inches 

 long, and from 2 to 4 broad. Spikes radical, imbricated, at first clavate, 

 afterwards becoming roundish as the fruit advances. Scape from 1 to 

 3 inches long, hid under the surface of the earth, and embraced by 

 numerous imbricated sheathing scales. Flowers of a middling size, pale 

 yellow. Bracts 1 -flowered, oblong, concave, smooth. Calyx cylindrical, 

 entire or toothed, villous. Corolla with a long, slender tube ; segments 

 of the outer series somewhat lanceolate, obtuse, the upper one rather 

 vaulted over the stamina, and stigma. Lip nearly round, and undivided, 

 tinged with red down the middle ; sterile stamens altogether absent. 

 Filament linear, incurved. Anther crowned with a 3-lobed crest. 

 Ovary villous, 3-celled, with many ovules in each, attached to the axis. 

 Capsule ovate, size of a large nutmeg, rather fleshy ; surface somewhat 

 rugose, 3-valved, 3-celled. Seeds several in each cell ; oval, and obo- 

 vate are the most prevailing forms. Fruit similar in quality to Carda- 

 moms, for which it is sold to the druggists of India ; the seeds are 

 similar in their shape and spicy flavour. 



1197. A. Grana Paradisi Linn. sp. plant. 2. Smith in Rees 

 Cyclop, suppl. N. and E. handb. i. 249. giant, med. t. 65. 



565 o o 3 



