CORIANDER
(Kariandrum.) The product known as coriander seed consists of the dried ripe fruit of cariandrum salivum, which is the only specie of the genus umbelliferæ. It is an annual herb cultivated in France and Germany for its seed. It grows about two feet high with branching stems. The stalks are round and erect and hollow, but have a pith within. The leaves are bipinnate, the lower ones divided into broad or wedge-shaped, deeply cut segments, while the upper ones are divided into narrow parts and more finely cut. The flowers grow in clusters of a white or reddish color upon its branches. The umbels have five to eight rays without a general involucre and the partial ones consists of a few small bracts. The seeds follow, two after each flower. They are half round and are the only part of the plant used. The most characteristic feature is this globular fruit, which is of a chamois or pale-yellow color and is about the size of the white pepper corn, which is crowned by the teeth of the calyx and contains no oil channels on the outer surface, but has two on the inner face of each half of the fruit. The ridges are five in number and very indistinct. As the two carpels, of which the fruit is composed, do not readily separate one from the other, they being protected by the ligneous pericarp, the fruit must be broken before submitting them to distillation. The unripe fruit possesses the intensely disgusting odors of the other parts of the plant, and for that reason it should be allowed to ripen fully before gathering. When they are dry they are sweet and fragrant. They dispel wind and warm and strengthen the stomach, and assist in digestion, and are good for pains in the head. They are also used in whole mixed spices, used for pickling.