Picture Details
Sliced betelnut
Partner:
Kew GardensImage reference:
EBC35017Origin:
Mangalore, Karnataka, IndiaDonor / Date:
India Museum, c.1879Description:
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Sliced seeds of the betel nut like this are taken as a stimulant in India, powdered with lime and wrapped in a leaf of the betel pepper (Piper betle) plant they are chewed for several hours at a time. The India Museum in London was formed by the East India Company in 1801 to display artefacts, natural history specimens and illustrations from the Indian subcontinent. The Museum was closed in 1879 and its collections dispersed among the London Museums and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
