CHAPTER XII 
CORIANDER, ETC. 
Coriander, the fruits of Coriandrum sativum, is a 
herbaceous annual belonging to the order Umbelliferae, 
It is apparently indigenous to the Mediterranean region 
and the Caucasus, and used to be cultivated in England, 
but is also largely cultivated in Northern India. 
It is an annual herb, with a slender, solid, smooth 
stem, 1 to 2 ft. high, corymbosely branched in the upper 
part. The lower leaves are pinnate, on long petioles 
with nearly sessile rounded leaflets, the margins crenate- 
serrate, the upper leaves finely cut, with narrow, linear 
lobes, bi- or tripinnate. The flowers are borne in umbels 
in. across, small, white or pink. 
The fruit is nearly globular, ^ to in. long, with two 
slender spreading styles on a short process, the stylopod. 
They consist of two halves, the mericarps, which easily 
separate, and are very concave within, with primary 
ridges, sinuous, and larger, straight secondary ridges on 
the outside. They possess a peculiar flavour suggestive 
of bugs, due to the aromatic oil contained in them 
when unripe ; when ripe and dry it has a more pleasant 
aromatic taste. 
The Bombay seeds (that is to say the fruit) are said 
to be larger and more elongate in shape than the 
European form. 
HISTORY 
This is one of the oldest known spices, being men- 
tioned in early Egyptian papyri, and in Sanskrit authors, 
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