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CARDAMOM

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 314 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CARDAMOM , the See also:

fruit of several See also:plants of the genera Elettaria and Amomum, belonging to the natural See also:order Zingiberaceae, the See also:principal of which is Elettaria Cardamomum, from which the true See also:officinal or See also:Malabar cardamom is derived. The Malabar cardamom plant is a large perennial See also:herb with a thick fleshy See also:root-stock, which sends up flowering stems, 6 to 12 ft. high. The large leaves are arranged in two rows, have very See also:long sheaths enveloping the See also:stem and a lanceolate spreading blade i to 22 ft. long. The fruit is an ovate-triangular, three-celled, three-valved See also:capsule (about i in. long, of a dirty yellow See also:colour) enclosing numerous angular seeds, which See also:form the valuable See also:part of the plant. It is a native of the mountainous parts of the Malabar See also:coast of See also:India, and the fruits are procured either from See also:wild plants or by cultivation throughout See also:Travancore, western See also:Mysore, and along the western Ghauts. A cardamom of much larger See also:size found growing in See also:Ceylon was formerly regarded as belonging to a distinct See also:species, and described as such under the name of Elettaria See also:major; but it is now known to be only a variety of the Malabar cardamom. In See also:commerce, several varieties are distinguished according to their size and flavour. The most esteemed are known as " shorts," a name given to such capsules as are from a See also:quarter to See also:half an See also:inch long and about a quarter broad. Following these come " See also:short-longs " and " long-longs," also distinguished by their size, the largest reaching to about an inch in length. The Ceylon cardamom attains a length of an inch and a half and is about a third of an inch broad, with a brownish pericarp and a distinct aromatic odour. Among the other plants, the fruits of which pass in commerce as cardamoms, are the See also:round or cluster cardamom, Amomum Cardamomum, a native of See also:Siam and See also:Java; the See also:bastard cardamom of Siam, A. xanthioides—the See also:Bengal cardamom, which is the fruit of A. subulatum, a native of See also:Nepal; the Java cardamom, produced by A. maximum; and the Korarima cardamom of See also:Somaliland. The last-named is the product of a plant which is unknown botanically.

Cardamoms generally are possessed of a pleasant aromatic odour, and an agreeable, spicy See also:

taste. On See also:account of their flavour they are much used with other medicines, and they form a principal ingredient in curries and compounded spices. In the See also:north of See also:Europe they are much used as a spice and flavouring material for cakes and See also:liqueurs; and they are very extensively employed in the See also:East for chewing with betel, &c.

End of Article: CARDAMOM

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