ON THE CEYLON CARDAMOM. 
23 
that my specimen, from which this description is drawn, is 
in fruit, and does not possess any flowers. Notwithstand- 
ing this drawback to the establishment of its generic posi- 
tion, I have no doubt that it belongs to the genus Elettaria. 
Speaking of the fruits, Sir James Edward Smith* observes, 
"We are persuaded they must belong to the same genus as 
the Malabar Cardamom. They appear to have a similar 
panicled inflorescence, and the structure of the fruit, with 
its central receptacle, coriaceous striated valves, and angu- 
lar rough or rugged seeds, are the same in this as in the 
last." — [Elettaria Cardarnomum.~] Messrs. T. F. L. 
Nees von Esenbeck and C. H. Ebermaiert also observe, that 
they are inclined to regard the mother-plant of the Carda- 
momum longum officinarum (which from their descrip- 
tion is obviously our Ceylon Cardamom) to be either the 
Elettaria Cardamomum or a species closely allied to it. In 
confirmation of the opinion of these eminent botanists, I 
may refer to the rhizome, stem and leaves, which, as well 
as the fruit relied on by Sir J. E. Smith, have considerable 
resemblance to the Elettaria Cardamom. I feel myself jus- 
tified, therefore, in regarding the Ceylon Cardamom as a 
species of Elettaria, and in adopting the specific name as- 
signed to it by the last mentioned distinguished botanist. 
Elettaria Major, Smith, in Rees' Cyclopaedia, vol. 
xxxix; Alpinia Granum Paradisi, Moon ; Catalogue of 
the Indigenous and Exotic plants growing in Ceylon; 
Zingiber Ensal Gsertner De fructibus et seminibus plan- 
tarum, t. 12, f. 5 ; Cardamomum majus vulgare Clusius, 
Aromatum Histor. lib. 1 ; Ensal, Singhalese. Figured 
in Pereira's Materia Medica, vol. ii., p. 1033. 2d edi- 
tion. 1842. 
Rhizome, with numerous branching root-fibres. 
* Rees' Cyclopaedia, vol. xxxix. Art, Elettaria. 
t Handbuch der medicinisch-pharmaceutischen Botanik, l er - Theil, 
p. 253. Dusseldorf, 1830. 
