266 



SPICES OF THE TROPICS 



VARIETIES. " Malabar Cardamom" is distinguished by the leaves being 

 softly pubescent on the under side, and the flower racemes having a tendency 

 to trail near the ground. "Mysore Cardamom" has the leaves glabrous on 



both sides, and the flower ra- 

 cemes are of a more erect habit. 

 The latter variety is therefore pre- 

 ferred for cultivation, as the fruits, 

 being further from the ground, 

 are not so liable to get damaged 

 as those of the trailing racemes. 

 "Nepal," "Bengal," "Java," 

 " wild or bastard " (of Siam) are 

 forms of cardamoms derived 

 from various species of Amoninm, 

 which are only of importance 

 in the East. The "Ceylon wild 

 cardamom" bears the largest 

 capsules, sometimes attaining li 

 inches in length. 



Cassia Bark. Cassia 

 Lignea, or Chinese Cassia 

 ( C i n n a ;;/ o m u in Cassia , 

 Lauraceae). A small tree 

 30 to 40 feet high, with long 

 lanceolate brittle leaves, 

 allied to the Cinnamon. 



The tree is a native of Southern China, and has been introduced in 

 1882 into Peradeniya, where it is now well established, bearing seed 

 each year in July and August. Cassia has been known from the 

 earliest times as a spice. It is mentioned frequently in the Bible and 

 by early Greek authors, also in Chinese herbals as early as 2700 

 B. C. The whole tree is pleasantly aromatic and its bark is used 

 as a substitute for the true cinnamon. In its native country it is 

 cultivated for its fruit " buds " or bark, the former being 

 picked by hand, and the bark peeled off and "quilled" much 

 in the same way as cinnamon, and made up in bundles for export. 

 The tree is not grown in stools, so that the bark is obtained, 

 unlike cinnamon, from the branches, which are cut down when 

 the trees are about six years old. The yield per acre is said to be 

 about eleven piculs, (1 picul=133^ lb.), which is sold by the 

 producers for about l| dollars per picul. In addition to this, 

 however, an important revenue is obtained from the sale and 

 export of the dried unripe fruits, known commercially as "Cassia 

 Buds, " which are worth about 80s. per cwt. in London. Cassia 



SULPHURING CARDAMOMS. 



