MONANDROUS PLANTS. m% 



9. Zingiber marginatum. R. 



Leaves sessile, lanceolate. Exterior bractes obovate, with: broad, trans- 

 parent, membranaceous marg-in, 



ISTative place uncertain, 



8. COSTUS. 



Gen. Char. Cororwith interior border of one campanulate back-cleft lobe. 

 Filament lanceolate, with the double anther attached far below its apex„ 

 Capsule S'CeWeA, 3-valved. Scerfs numerous, naked. 

 I. CosTius spmosMs. Smith in Trans, of Linn. Soc. 1. 249, 



Leaves sessile, spirally arranged, oblong, villous underneath. 

 Banksia speciosa. Retz. obs. 3. 75. 

 Tsjana-kua. Rheed. mat. II. t. 8. 

 Ceju of the Hindus, and Bengalese. 

 Cashmira, Pushcara, Sanscrit names. 



A NATIVE of all the southern parts oi Asia. In Bengal it blossoms du- 

 ring the rains, and the seed ripens in 06i:ober, and November. No use, 

 so far as I can learn, is made of any part of the plant by the natives of 

 India, and Sir Joseph Banks informs me, that the root does not at all 

 resemble the Costus Arahicus of the shops. 



The tuberous part of the root, runs horizontal a few inches under the 

 surface of the earth ; is often two inches in diameter, marked with annu- 

 lar rings; from every part, the proper fibrous roots issue, and penetrate 

 deep into the soil ; colour of the old parts pale yellow ; of the young, 

 white ; texture firm, tough, and fibrous; and has not any of that spicy, or 

 camphoraceous odour, so common to the plants of this order. Stems 

 eredt, or nearly so ; some straight, while others from the same root rise 

 with a spiral contortion ; lower jialf invested in simple, downy sheaths; 

 general thickness about that of a walking cane, and from ■!< to 6 feet high. 



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