AMOMUM. 



by Francis Borone, [tee the article Rutace/E,) are thofe 

 of A. n. 2. of Afzeliur., called by the natives Maja-aba, 

 which are very likely to belong to the prefent plant, though 

 we have no proof of it. Thefe agree with the outer braaeas 

 in colour and fmoothnefs, and are ovate-oblong, only half the 

 fize of the laft, with which their feeds very precifely accord, 

 both in appearance and in want of flavour. Indeed they 

 are fo alike, and fuch a coincidence between the feeds of 

 different fpecies of Amomum is fo unufual, that we could 

 almoft prefurae the capfulc above defcribed for A. Afzelii, 

 might be a very large one of this n. 2. We do not however 

 form any fuch conclufion, the feeds of y^. Clufii, undoubtedly 

 a diftind fpecies from both thefe, having feeds precifely 

 like them, only rather larger. 



10. A. villofum. Rough-fruited Amomum. Loureir. 

 Cochinch. 4. Willd. n. 8. Rofc. n. 5. (Globba crifpa 

 rubra; Rumph. Amboin. v. 6. 137. t. 61. f. 2.) — Spike 

 ovate, ftalked. Bradleas linear -lanceolate, elongated. Cap- 

 fule globular, obfcurely triangular, rough with fcattered 

 bridles. — Native of Java, Amboyna, and the Molucca 

 iflands, as well as of Cochinchina, in hilly fituations. The 

 feeds are exported in great quantities to China, for medical 

 ufe, being, according to Loureiro, llomachic, warm and 

 ftrengthening. The root is woody and creeping ; its fibres 

 aromatic. Leafy flems fix feet ( Rumphius fays fourteen 

 to fixteen feet) high, weak, erect, perennial. Leaves 

 fmooth. Flovier-flalk four inches long, flender, reclining. 

 Spike nearly ovate, with linear, imbricated braaeas. Flowers 

 pale. Capfiile nearly globular, half an inch in diameter, 

 rather pulpy and fweet, reddifh, clothed with numerous 

 thick protuberances. Seeds angular, brown. The whole 

 plant has an aromatic, but not powerful, odour. This 

 defcription of Loureiro's is not unfuitable to the above 

 fynonym of Rumphius, to which he refers, except that the 

 latter defcribes the roughnefs of the fruit as confifting of 

 (hort fcattered fpines, or briftles. 



IX. A. uliginofttm. Marfh Amomum. Retz. Obf. fafc. 3. 

 56. Rofc. n. 6. — Clufter ftalked. Brafteas ovate-oblong. 

 Capfule globular, obfcurely triangular, fiiaggy. Inter- 

 mediate lobe of the filament in two rounded fegments. — 

 Found by Kosnig at Raput-Nok, in Tranquebar, in fhady 

 wet fituations, flowering about the middle of May. Leafy 

 Jlems, a yard or more in height. Leaves fmooth on both 

 fides, v?ith hairy Jtipulas. Flotver-flalks fomewhat curved, 

 clothed with ovate -oblong, fmooth, red fcales. Flowers 

 white, variegated with red and yellow. Stamen crowned 

 with four lobes, the two lateral ones narroweft and fmaUeft, 

 the two middle ones broad and rounded. Capfule clothed, 

 before it is dried, with blood-coloured cirrh'i, or threads. 

 Kanig. 



12. A. echinatum. Hedge-hog Amomum. Willd. n. 9. 

 Rofc. n, 7. ( Globba crifpa viridis ; Rumph. Amboin. v. 6. 

 137, t.6i. f. I.) — Spike capitate, nearly feffile. Brafteas 

 membranous. Capfule globofe, all over fpinous. — Native of 

 Amboyna, the Molucca iflands, &c. Rumphius. Leafy 

 Jlems, according to Rumphius, ten or twelve feet high. 

 Leaves twenty inches long, of the breadth of four or five 

 fingers. Fruit larger than that of A. villofum, always of a 

 deep green, and armed with fpines like a Thorn-apple, 

 growing in denfe feffile clufters or tufts at the root. We 

 know nothing of this fpecies but from Rumphius, for after 

 much perplexity and confideration, we are decidedly of 

 opinion that Amomum n. 2. of Koenig, Retz. Obf. fafc. 3. 

 50, cannot belong to it. See A. maximum hereafter. 



13. A. aculeatum. Prickly Oval Amomum. Roxb. 



n. 3 Spikes obovate, on fhort ftalks. Brafteas lanceolate. 



Creft; of the filament abruptly three-lobed. Capfule* oval. 

 Vol, XXXIX. 



prickly. Leaves nearly feffile, lanceolate ; heart -(haped at 

 the bafe. — Native of the Malay Archipelago, from whence 

 it was brought to the Calcutta garden, and flowers freely 

 there in April and May, ripening feed in Oftober. The 

 capfule is perfedlly defl;itute of grooves, and its coat of a foft 

 flefliy texture. Roxburgh. 



14. A. maximum. Great Winged Amomum. Roxb. 

 n.4. (A. n. 2 ; Koenig in Retz. Obf. fafc. 3. 50?) — 

 Spikes oval, on fliort ftalks. Brafteas lanceolate. Craft of 

 one femi-lunar lobe. Capfules globofe, with nine wings. 

 Leaves fl;alked, lanceolate, villous beneath. — Native of the 

 Malay Archipelago. Long cultivated in the Calcutta 

 garden, where it blofibms in April and May, ripening feed 

 in September and Oftober. The flowers are nearly white, 

 with a fmall tinge of yellow on the middle of the lip. The 



feeds have a warm pungent aromatic tafte, not unlike the real 

 Malabar Cardamom, (fee Elettaria,) but by no means 

 fo grateful. Roxburgh. The author appears to have con- 

 fufed himfelf between Globba crifpa rubra of Rumphius, and 

 t. 60, of that writer, but we readily agree with him, though 

 not exactly for the reafons he gives, that neither of thefe 

 fynonyms belong to his A. maximum. 



15. A. Rumphii. Angular-winged Amomum. (Globba 

 longa ; Rumph. Amboin. v. 6. 134. t. 60.) — Spikes 

 ovate, on ftalks thrice their own length. Brafteas ovate. 

 Capfule globofe, with many angular-notched wings. 

 Leaves ftalked, fmooth. — Native of valleys, and at the foot 

 of mountains, in a cold, wet, clay, or ftony foil, throughout 

 the Malay Archipelago, and all the eaftern pafts of India. 

 The barren flems are a yard high before they expand into 

 leaves, after which they attain the height of twelve or fifteen 

 feet. Leaves thin and fmooth, two feet or two feet and a 

 half in length, two palms broad. Flower-Jlalks a foot high, 

 fcaly, each bearing a denfe, ovate, many-flowered fpike, 

 three or four inches long. BraSeas ovate, acute, reddifti, 

 fpotted. Calyx with a very long three-cleft tube. Corolla 

 reddifti externally, with a white lip, foon fading. Capfule 

 nearly globular, with many unequal, yellowifti, irregularly 

 and fliarply toothed wings. Seeds black, enveloped in a 

 filvery pulp, of a gratefully acid flavour, very fragrant, but 

 not acrid or aromatic to the tafte. Rumphius. 



We cannot reduce this plant to any of the fpecies of 

 Rofcoe, Roxburgh, or Koenig. We feel indeed great 

 fcruples in referring the Amomum n. 2. of the latter to A. 

 maximum, and fliall therefore venture to propofe it here as 

 diftinft, with that diffidence which muft always attend the 

 definition of a fpecies taken up from defcription. 



16. A. Kanigii. Single-fruited Amomum. (A. n. 2 ; 

 Kcenig in Retz. Obf. v. 3. 50.) — Spikes feflile. Brafteas 

 ovate, membranous. Capfule fohtary, globofe, deeply fur- 

 rowed, with intermediate wings, and fomewhat tuberculated. 

 Creft of three lobes ; the middle one rounded, finely toothed. 



Leaves downy beneath Native of denfe woods in the Eaft 



Indies. Leafy Jlems two feet high. Spikes or tufts of 



flowers feflile at the root, each perfecting but one capfule, 

 the fize of a large cherry, containing rarely more than nine 

 feeds. 



Although we have made out a far more ample lift of 

 fpecies, of genuine Amomum, than has ever been attempted 

 before, we are aware that feveral may yet exift, of which 

 imperfect traces are to be found in various authors, fo that it 

 is more likelv our number fliould be augmented than dimi- 

 niftied by future enquiry-. This genus ought perhaps to be 

 divided into two families, the firft with fpiked or racemofe 

 flowers, globular fruit, and angular /f/rf'j ; the fecond wnth 



"capitate flowers, "ovate pointed/™//, and ovate or oblong, 

 even feeds. To the firft belong A. Cardamomum and many 



