August, 1912.] 



159 



Ceylon. 



" Pharraacographia " traces the first 

 mention of cardamoms to Susruta, and 

 accordingly considers that the drug may 

 have been used in India from a remote 

 period, not unlikely reaching Europe, 

 like ginger and pepper, in classical times. 

 Edrisi circa 1154 notes cardamoms as a 

 product of Ceylon, but the Portuguese 

 navigator Barbosa (1514) was the first 

 to designate correctly the country of 

 origin as the Malabar coast. Cardamoms 

 grow chiefly in Ceylon and Southern 

 India, China, Siam, and the Malay 

 Archipelago generally, as well as in 

 Madagascar and West Africa, but the 

 first two only are of importance as re- 

 gards European commerce. China car- 

 damoms were described by Daniel Han- 

 bury in 1855, since when practically 

 nothing has been added. The Siam spice, 

 derived from Amomum Cardamomum, 

 L., found its way into the Pharamaco- 

 pceas of the early part of the seven- 

 teenth century as Amomum verum, but 

 by the end of the century it became a 

 rare drug, and later disappeared. In 

 1857, after commercial relations reopen- 

 ed with Siam, forty-three bags from 

 Bangkok offered at the London drug- 

 auctions failed to find a purchaser, the 

 buying-in price being Is. 6d. The Nepal 

 cardamom, which was sent all over India 

 three-hundred years ago as to-day, the 

 Bengal cardamom, the " wild or bastard" 

 cardamom of Siam and the Java carda- 

 mom are derived from various species 

 of Amomum, and, although some form 

 a considerable article of trade in the 

 East these types of cardamoms do not 

 now arrive on the London market. 

 Botany. 



The cardamoms of Britis-h commerce 

 are derived from Elettaria Carda- 

 momum, which grows wild, or is culti- 

 vated, on the Malabar Coast of India 

 and in Ceylon, these countries providing 

 almost exclusively the fine grades met 

 with on the London markets. The annu- 

 al consumption in India and Burma is 

 computed to be nearly one million 

 pounds. There is a large market for the 

 spice in Calcutta, the Cardamom coated 

 with sugar forming a feature at Hindoo 

 festivals and ceremonials. 



The Malabar cardamom-plant for- 

 merly yielded the bulk of the spice im- 

 ported into this country, but the culti- 

 vated Mysore variety now affords most 

 of the fine quality. The latter plant 

 possesses a more robust habit, having 

 larger and coarser leaves of deeper 

 colour and bearing exposure better than 

 the Malabar type. The most noticeable 

 difference is the inflorescences which 

 spring almost vertically from the bulb 

 of the Mysore variety, but spread along 

 the surface of the soil in the Malabar 

 description. It is not known how the 

 district name "Mysore" came to de- 

 signate the variety of a cardamom plant. 

 There is, however, much confusion re- 

 garding the equivalents in India of 

 these two cultivated types, some hold- 

 ing that the names are reversed in India. 

 There also appear to be two varieties of 

 Malabar plants var. minus being confin- 

 ed to Southern India and var. majus 

 growing in Ceylon. The latter is dis- 

 tinguised by its shorter stems, broader 

 leaves, and less globose fruits. 



The reed-like nature of the true or 

 lessor cardamom-plant is evident from 

 figure 1* which shows a complete young 

 plant of the cultivated Mysore variety. 

 The short-branched rhizome is creamy 

 white in colour, with deep pink markings. 

 In the illustration a bulb bearing two 

 aerial stems is shown, one of which is 

 folded to give some idea of its length by 

 comparison with a scale (the smallest 

 section of which is equivalent to 1 in.). 

 The lance-head shaped leaves vary from 

 1 to 3 ft. in length and are from 3 to 6 in. 

 wide, while their bases are sheathing. 

 Below the stem on the left are seen 

 two adventitious buds, which would 

 have produced new aerial stems. The 

 flowers are borne in loose inflorescences 

 (racemes) on stalks some 16 to 18 in long, 

 which grow out close to the ground, be- 

 ing usually thrown out iu the full-grown 

 plant in groups of four to each aerial 

 stem. Each raceme may have eight to 

 fourteen branches each with three to 

 six flowers. The green calyx tube of the 

 flower is 1£ in. long. The pale green 

 corolla lobes are half an inch long, 



* Not produced. 



