Flora Medica

ELETTARIA.erect, 2 or 3 inches long. Bracts solitary, oblong, smooth, membranous,striated, sheathing, 1 at each joint of the scape. Flowers alternae, shortstalked,solitary at each joint of the racemes, opening in succession as theracemes lengthen. Calyx funnel-shaped, 3-toothed at the mouth, aboutf of an inch long, striated with fine veins, permanent. Tube of corollaslender, as long as the calyx; limb double, exterior of 3, oblong,concave, nearly equal, pale greenish-white divisions ;inner lip obovate,much longer than the exterior divisions, somewhat curled at the edge,with the apex slightly 3-lobed, marked chiefly in the centre, with purpleviolet stripes. Filament short, erect. Anther double, emarginate.Ovary oval, smooth. Style slender. Stigma funnel-shaped. Capsuleoval, somewhat 3-sided, size of a small nutmeg, 3-celled, 3-valved.Seeds coriaceous and pale-brown, many, blackish. The seeds aregratefully aromatic and pungent with a flavour of camphor, and areesteemed more agreeable and useful in food and medicine than anyothers of this natural order. They are reckoned carminative andstomachic, and are employed very generally to give warmth to othermedicines. According to Mr. White they are " one of the mostvaluable articles of modern luxury, regarded as a necessary of life bymost of the inhabitants of Asia, a grateful and salubrious accessory ofdiet, &c." They enter into a considerable number of pharmaceuticalcompounds, as adjuvants, but the only preparation that derives its namefrom them is the Tinctura cardamomi composita. JPereira.1200. E. Cardamomum medium N. and E. handb. i. 252.Alpinia Cardamomum medium Roxb. fl. ind. i. 74-. Hillycountry in the neighbourhood of Sylhet where the is plant calledDo-Keswa.Leaves stalked above their sheaths, linear-lanceolate, downy underneath,from 2 to 3 feet long, by 2 to 4 inches broad ;sheaths villous,ending in an obtuse ligula above the insertion of the leaf. Spikesradical, oblong, laxly imbricated, rising but little above the earth ;lower part hid in the soil, and clothed with shorter scariose scales.Flowers numerous, large, red, fragrant. Bracts lanceolate, ribbed,smooth, yellowish-pink. Calyx length of the tube of the corolla,tubular, with a 3-toothed coloured apex. Tube of corolla cylindrical,long and slender; its segments linear-oblong, obtuse. Lip with apretty broad cordate base, from thence tapering to its entire obtusepoint, much longer than the segment of the exterior border ; margincurled. Capsules on rather long pedicels, ovate-oblong, while freshabove 1J inch long, and nearly 1 in diameter, somewhat 3-lobed, eachangle marked with a larger vertical wing, and 2 smaller on the flattersides, between the large ones, 3-celled. Seeds numerous, obovate witha groove on one side. The form of the capsule and the acrid aromatictaste of the seeds induce me to conclude that this is the plant whichproduces the Cardamomum medium of writers on Materia Medica.Roxb, Mr. Pereira finds in the shops a cardamom called SeminaCardamomi majora, or wild Cardamoms from Calcutta which he thinksmay belong to this species.ALPINIA.Tube of corolla short; inner limb 1 -lipped, either toothless or567 o o 4