ZINGIBERACEiE. 



635 



ent in various mixtures, and to correct the drastic operation of some purga- 

 tives, but are occasionally administered as a stimulant and carminative, espe- 

 cially in the form of a simple or compound tincture. In the East Indies they 

 are considered as a necessary of life, as a grateful and salubrious accessory 

 to the vegetable diet of the natives. 



2. E. major, S7nith. — Rhizome with nume- Fig. 294. 



rous fibres. Stem erect, smooth, covered with 

 the leaf-sheaths. Leaves sessile on the sheaths, 

 silky beneath-, acuminate ; the shorter ones lan- 

 ceolate, the larger oblong-lanceolate. Sheaths 

 about half the length of the leaves, with a 

 roundish ligula. Scape radical, flexuose, 

 jointed, branched ; branches alternate, sub- 

 erect. Bracts solitary, sheathing each joint, 

 marcescent. (Flowers not known.) Capsules 

 one or two on each branch, with the perma- 

 nent calyx attached. 



Smith, Rees* Cyclop, xxxix. ; Pereira, 

 Mat. Med. ii. 164. 



A native of Ceylon. Dr. Pereira de- 

 scribed it, as above, from specimens from 

 that island, and with Sir J. E. Smith, 

 who was acquainted with the capsule 

 only, is of opinion that it must be a 

 species of Elettaria, although the flowers 

 have not been seen. The capsule, which 

 is called Ceylon Cardamom, is lanceo- 

 late-oblong, acutely triangular, more or 



less curved, with flat-ribbed sides. At e. major. 



one extremity is the long, cylindrical, 

 permanent 3-lobed calyx, and at the other the footstalk. 

 The pericarp is coriaceous, tough, brownish, of a brownish 

 or yellowish-ash colour. The seeds are angular, rugged, 

 of a yellowish-red colour, and have a peculiar, aromatic 

 odour, and warm, spicy taste. They are not considered as 

 valuable as the Malabar cardamoms. 



3. E. cardamomum medium, Nees. — Leaves petiolate above the 

 sheaths, linear-lanceolate, downy beneath. Sheaths villous, with an 

 obtuse ligula. Scapes radical, laxly imbricated, lower part hid in the 

 earth. Flowers numerous, with lanceolate, ribbed, smooth bracts. 

 Capsules on rather long pedicels, ovate-oblong, each angle marked 

 with a larger vertical wing, and two smaller on the flat sides, 3-celled. 

 Seeds numerous, obovate, with a groove on one side. 



Nees andEberm., Handbuch, i. 252; Lindley, Fl. Med. 

 567 ; Alpinia, c. medium, Roxburgh, Fl. Ind. i. 74. 



A native of hills in several parts of India. Dr. Lindley 

 is of opinion that this plant produces the Cardamomitm medium of the older 

 writers, but it is by no means certain, though the form of the capsule and the 

 character of the seeds are analogous. 



^lpinia. — Swartz. 

 Tube of corolla short ; inner limb 1-lipped, either toothless, or with a small tooth at base 



Fig. 295. 



Ceylon Cardamom. 

 a. Calyx, b. Stalk. 



