494 A TEXT-BOOK OF BOTANY. 



a. THE ZINGIBERACE^ OR GINGER FAMILY is dis- 

 tinguished from the other Scitamineae by the fact that the seeds 

 have endosperm as well as perisperm. The plants 'are rich in 

 volatile oils, and a number are used in medicine and perfumery. 



Zingiber officinale yields the official ginger (Fig. 273). From 

 a creeping, fleshy, branching and laterally compressed rhizome 

 (Fig. 187) arises a stem about i M. high bearing numerous lanceo- 

 late leaves. The flowering stalk arises directly from the rhizome, 

 terminating in a spike which bears flowers having greenish-yellow 

 petals with violet or purple stripes. 



Elettaria Cardamomum (E. repens) yields the cardamom of 

 the several pharmacopoeias (Fig. 237). The plant has a leafy as 

 well as floral stem which rises from a tuberous rhizome. The 

 leaves are broadly lanceolate. The flowers are greenish-white, 

 the labellum (consisting of two petal-like staminodes) being bluish. 

 The fruit is a capsule, and the seeds are the part used in medicine. 



The so-called PARADISE GRAINS are the seeds of Amomum 

 Melegueta growing in Western Africa. They are about 3 mm. in 

 diameter, dark brown, nearly smooth, friable, and contain a vola- 

 tile oil. 



GALANGAL, which is used in perfumery, is the rhizome of 

 Alpinia Galanga growing in the East Indies and cultivated in 

 China and Bengal. It is frequently referred to as " Galangal 

 major " to distinguish it from the rhizome of Alpinia officinarum 

 growing in China near Hainan. Galangal occurs in short, branched 

 pieces of a reddish-brown color, with numerous circular scars, 

 and has an aromatic and pungent taste. It contains 0.5 per cent, 

 of a volatile oil, the principal constituent of which is cineol ; a 

 pungent principle, galangol ; an acrid, pungent resin ; 25 per cent, 

 of starch ; and three crystalline principles. 



CURCUMA or TURMERIC is the rhizome of Curcuma longa, a 

 reed-like plant which is largely cultivated in India and other 

 tropical countries. In preparing the rhizome for market it is sub- 

 jected to a scalding or parboiling process which agglutinates the 

 starch in the cells. While turmeric is used as a condiment, it is 

 also used on account of its color as an adulterant of mustard, 

 rhubarb, and other articles, but is very easily detected. Several 

 forms of curcuma are found in commerce, as " round curcuma," 



