SEEDS AND FRUITS. 317 



broken with a hammer. The average annual product of 

 a tree is five pounds of nutmegs, and one and a half 

 pounds of mace. 



316. Caraway, Carum carui, of the Umbel or Parsley 

 famUy ( UmbellifercB), is cultivated for its aromatic fruit or 

 mericarps. The cultivated plant has larger and more 

 odorous fruit than the wild ; it is biennial, has a stem two 

 to four feet high, smooth, striate, and bears dissected leaves 

 and white flowei-s in umbels. The wild plant contains 

 three to five per cent., and the cultivated plant nine per 

 cent., of volatile-oil. The oil is pale yellow, thin, has a 

 bitter taste and strong odor ; it is used in flavoring liquors 

 and articles of food, also in perfuming soap. Caraway is 

 used as a spice, and in medicine as a stimulant to the 

 digestive organs. 



317. Anise, Pimpinella anisum (family Umbelliferce), 

 a perennial herb of Asia and Africa, cultivated in Europe, 

 etc., has pinnately-parted leaves and large umbels of white 

 flowers. The mericarps are used in confectionery and in 

 the manufacture of Oil of Anise, which is obtained both 

 by distillation and by pressure. The oil is colorless when 

 fresh, and yellow when old ; its specific gravity varies from 

 .98 to 1.07; it consists mainly of Anethol. It is used in 

 medicine, being aromatic and carminative. 



318. Coriander, Coriandrum sativum (family JJmhelr 

 lijerm), is an annual plant, both indigenous and cultivated 

 in the Mediterranean region. It is two or three feet 

 high, has bipinnate leaves, and white flowers in umbels. 

 The fruit is globular or roundish, the two mericarps do 

 not separate. When fresh the odor is very strong and 

 unpleasant ; dried, it is pleasant, spicy, and aromatic. The 

 volatile-oil contained (which is obtained by distillation) 



