CHAPTEK XII 



CORIANDER, ETC. 



CORIANDER, the fruits of Coriandrum sativum, is a 

 herbaceous annual belonging to the order UmbelUferae. 

 It is apparently indigenous to the Mediterranean region 

 and the Caucasus, and used to be cultivated in England, 

 but is also largely cultivated in Northern India. 



It is an annual herb, with a slender, solid, smooth 

 stem, 1 to 2 ft. high, corymbosely branched in the upper 

 part. The lower leaves are pinnate, on long petioles 

 with nearly sessile rounded leaflets, the margins crenate- 

 serrate, the upper leaves finely cut, with narrow, linear 

 lobes, bi- or tripinnate. The flowers are borne in umbels 

 1^ in. across, small, white or pink. 



The fruit is nearly globular, ^ to -^ in. long, with two 

 slender spreading styles on a short process, the stylopod. 

 They consist of two halves, the mericarps, which easily 

 separate, and are very concave within, with primary 

 ridges, sinuous, and larger, straight secondary ridges on 

 the outside. They possess a peculiar flavour suggestive 

 of bugs, due to the aromatic oil contained in them 

 when unripe ; when ripe and dry it has a more pleasant 

 aromatic taste. 



The Bombay seeds (that is to say the fruit) are said 

 to be larger and more elongate in shape than the 

 European form. 



HISTORY 



This is one of the oldest known spices, being men- 

 tioned in early Egyptian papyri, and in Sanskrit authors, 



384 



