[All Rights Reserved. | ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW. BULLETIN OF MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION, ADDITIONAL SERIES, VI. SELECTED PAPERS FROM THE KEW BULLETIN. II—SPECIES AND PRINCIPAL VARIETIES OF MUSA. LONDON: PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE By DARLING & SON, La»., 34-40, Bacon Srreet, E And to be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, from YMAN anp SONS, Lrp., Ferrer Lane, E.C., or OLIVER & BOYD, Eprvsurex ; or E PONSONBY, 116, Grarron Srreer, DuRLi. 1906. Price One Shilling and Strpence = Se amen 4 . NCES te <— Ue i= a \ Ge been b 1399) AYER WGibson: lave mail Dr eee 7. ww: —— : “4. } lo : ‘ ll 5 { ' et ee L “ ig 9 5 L Vii ae Ae rs m on '? a Ta Ae } a | poe ee Av > etree wie ie ‘ ‘ r Te eae [All Rights Reserved. | ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW. BULLETIN OF MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION, ADDITIONAL SERIES, VI. SELECTED PAPERS FROM THE KEW BULLETIN. II—SPECIES AND PRINCIPAL VARIETIES OF MUSA. LIBRARY NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN. LONDON: PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE. By DARLING & SON, Lrp., 34-40, Bacon Srreet, E. And to be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, from WYMAN anv SONS, Lrp., Ferrer Lane, E or OLIVER & BOYD. EDINBURGH ; or E PONSONBY, 116, Grarron Srreer, Dus. 1906. Price One Shilling and Siapence. ¢ * “tf a2 ‘> dcayrdage nits 4 ih : Ae ‘ a « sl ee ce (Pits i" a ard rs —— < et pw os ~~ ‘ > i me a SELECTED PAPERS FROM THE LIBRARY be BULLETIN. «oe GARDEN, SPECIES AND PRINCIPAL VARIETIES OF MUSA. [K.B., 1894, pp. 229-314.] The tribe Musee forms a part of the important Natural Order SCITAMINEZA, which includes numerous economic plants such as Arrow- root, Turmeric, Cardamoms, Ginger, and Cannas, It embraces four genera, all of interest :—Heliconia, Musa, Strelitzia, and Ravenala. The Heliconias are natives of the New World, and represent in habit the wild Musas of the Old. The Musas themselves include the wild and cultivated bananas and plantains, and are indigenous to the Old World and Polynesia. The Strelitzias are plants with distichous leaves, and their flowers are large, white, blue, or orange coloured; they are restricted to South Africa. The Ravenalas, two species only, are found in such widely- separated countries as Madagascar and Guiana. They are the well-known “'lravellers’-palms,” whose leaves on long stalks arranged like the ribs of a fan are striking objects ii many tropical countries. Musas are the largest of tree-like herbs, often attaining, with the leaves, a height of 25 to 40 feet. They have not inappropriately been compared by Meneghiniand Achille Richard to “ gigantic leeks.”” These plants can be grown over an immense area of the earth’s surface, and are found either wild or cultivated from 38° N. lat. to 35° S, lat. There are about 40 described species of Musa known (in various parts of the world) and about one-half of these are now under cultivation inthis country. The edible-fruited species seem to have migrated with mankind into all the climates in which they can be grown, and are universally cultivated in the equatorial zone for purposes of shade and food. Le Maout and Decaisne say :— _ Bananas and plantains afford such desirable food that their cultiva- tion is not less important in the tropics than that of cereals and farinaceous _.tubers in temperate regions.” “ In West Africa, Monteiro (Angola and the Conge, 1., 294) speaks =~ thus of these plants :— * Bananas and plantains grow magnificently where the rich moist earth ~in which they delight isfound, . . . and they rear their magnifi- cent leaves unbroken by a breath of air. A grove of banana trees thus = -growing luxuriantly in a forest clearing is one of the most beautiful 500 Wt 19529 1/06 D&S 29 23099 A 2 sights in nature; the vast leaves reflecting the rays of the hot sun from their bright green surface contrast vividly with the dark-hued foliage of the trees around, and show off the whorls of flowers with their fleshy, metallic, purple-red envelopes and the great bunches of green and ripe yellow fruit.” Burton passed through groves of cultivated plantains in Central Africa during “a whole day’s march”; while Johnston in Eastern Africa regarded “the groves of emerald green bananas everywhere met with as marking the commencement of the cultivated region.” Belt’s observations in the New World are :— “The banana tree shoots up its succulent stem and unfolds its immense entire leaves with great rapidity ; and a group of them waving their silky leaves in the sun, or shining ghostly white in the moonlight, forms one of those beautiful sights that can only be seen to perfection in the tropics.” An excellent general account of the plantain and banana was given by the late Professor Lindley in Trans. Roy. Hort. Soc., V., pp. 83-84 :— “‘The plantain or banana, with which as a tree no one can be unacquainted, is the principal fruit consumed by the inhabitants of the torrid zone; and from its nutritious qualities and general use may, whether used in a raw or dressed form, be regarded rather as a neces- sary article of foud than as an occasional luxury. In equinoctial Asia and America, in tropical Africa, in the Islands of the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, wherever the mean heat of the year exceeds 75° Fahr., the banana is one of the most interesting objects of cultivation for the subsistence of man. The fruit is produced from amongst the immense leaves in bunches weighing 30, 60, and 80 lbs., of the richest hues, and of the greatest diversity of form. It usually is long and narrow, of a pale yellow or dark red colour, witha yellow farinaceous flesh. But in form it varies to oblong and nearly spherical ; and in colour it offers all the shades and variations of tints that the combination of yellow and red, in different proportions, can produce. Some sorts are said always to be of a bright green colour. In general, the character of the fruit to an European palate is that of mild insipidity ; some sorts are even s0 coarse as not to be edible without preparation. The greater number, however, are used in their raw state, and some varieties acquire by cultivation a very exquisite flavour, some of them surpassing the finest pear. In the better sorts the flesh is no harder than butter is in winter, and has much the colour of the finest yellow butter. It is of a delicate taste, and melts in the mouth like marmalade. To point out all the kinds that are cultivated in the East Indies alone would be as difficult as to describe the varieties of apples and pears in Europe ; for the names vary according to the form, size, taste, and colour of the fruits.” Besides the fruit-yielding Musas there are many species so ornamental that they are surpassed by few plants admired for their gigantic stature and graceful foliage. The largest of these is the Abyssinian Musa Enseie, first described by the traveller Bruce. The leaves in fine specimens are nearly 30 feet long and about 3 feet wide. The smallest species is a singularly interesting one recently discovered by Delavay in Western China (Musa lasiocarpa). There is no apparent stem and the leaves are only about a foot long. Between these two extreme forms there are numerous intermediate ones, all graceful and attractive, some with bright red flower-bracts. Others, again, remarkable for their mottled or banded leaves, are cultivated for their beauty. In spite of their value as food plants and their wide distribution, Musas have not 3 by any means been studied carefully, and there is no standard work existing giving an adequate account of their history, origin, and dis- tribution in various parts of the world. The information respecting them is scattered through numerous books which are seldom accessible except in large libraries. A paper on Les differentes especes dans le genre Musa (Bananier), by Dr. Sagot, was published in the Journal de la Société Nationale @ Horticulture de France, April and May, 1887. Dr. Sagot divided the Musas (or Bananas as he called them) into three groups as follows :— 1. The Giant Bananas, of which WM. Ensete is the type. In this group no suckers are formed. The fruit is inedible and leathery, seeds few. 2. Fleshy-fruited Bananas, with MW. sapientum as the type. Stem producing suckers ; spike long and decurved ; fruit fleshy and usually edible. 2d. Ornamental Bananas. Spike often erect, not pendent, bracts per- sistent, brightly coloured, each with only a few flowers in its axil, suckers many, fruit leathery. YU. rosacea and M. cuccinea are familiar examples of this group. More recently, in 1893, A Synopis of the Genera and Species of Musee, prepared by Mr. J. G. Baker, F.R.S., was published in the Annals of Botany, Vol. VII., pp. 189-222. This contains a key to the sections and species and brief descriptions of 32 species of Musa and several varieties. Mr. Baker’s paper brings together, for the first time, a complete review of the genus, and a starting point is established from which to make further investigations. The chief features in it are incorporated here. The sub-generic distinctions adopted by Mr. Baker are based on the shape of the stem, the number of flowers to a bract, the shape of the petal, and the colour of the bract. His divisions, like those of Sagot, are three, and they practically include almost the same species. DeEscrRIPTIVE. The stem (pseudo-stem) in Musas usually arises from a perennial rootstock which is made up of a number of successive shoots extending outwards from the original base.. The apparent stem arising from each shoot is composed at one stage of nothing but the convolute sheaths of the leaves. The sheaths of the leaves in this case are tightly packed one over another, and the outermost generally covers about three-fourths of the circumference. The inner sheaths, occupying the centre, are very narrow and tightly rolled, but they gradually widen as they come nearer the outer surface of the stem. When the plant is about to flower the bud, which starts from the base, is pushed up through the centre of ~ leaf-sheaths and appears at the top from among the expanded eaves. Graham (Bot. Magq., t. 3849) had carefully noticed the growth of the flower-bud of Musas in this country in 1840. He says :— “The flower-bud, as I have proved by cutting down full-grown plants of Musa rosacea and Cavendishii, and I think also of M. paradisiaca, remains at the root till a time after the plant has attained its full size, varying according to its treatment, and then pushes its way upwards— 23099 A 2 deel \ X\ TT, YY Wf fy (J Y }} Y Wii's LLY ito i < \ EX < \\N QA WQ&S7 SG({ 7 | \NS \\ SM “ANY i \ Ni i J Musa sapientum var. paradisiaca, 5 its appearance at the top of the stem being preceded by the evolution of one or more leaves smaller than the rest.” Observations on this point have been made lately at Kew. (1.) A stem of M. sapientum, about 12 months old, was cut down before flowering when nearly, but not quite, fully grown. The whole stem was 15 feet high. Cut longitudinally, it showed at the base a conical body rising in the centre about 8 inches above the attachment of the outermost leaves. From the apex of the cone the flower bud had already started. It was on a slender leafless stalk about an inch in diameter. The bud itself was found about 4 inches higher. In this case it had evidently just begun to grow. (2.) Ina plant of WU. Basjoo, apparently fully grown, the conical axis was 10 inches in diameter at the base, invested at that point by a few leaf-sheaths. A foot higher with the stem of leaf-sheaths 9 inches in diameter, the flower stalk was an inch and a half in diameter. By carefully following it, the top of the flower bud was found at 3 feet from the base, forming a club- shaped body easily recognised by a bulging out of the innermost leaf-sheaths. Here the flower bud was found about one-third of the way up the stem. (3.) Finally a stem of M. sapientum that had already borne fruit was examined. It was about 12 feet high. Ata foot above the conical base the fruiting stalk, cut through, was one and three-quarter inches in diameter. It preserved the same diameter and was traced as a slender, white, fibrous body, over 12 feet high, closely invested by the leaf-sheaths, until it emerged from amongst the petioles of the leaves. It then became coloured green and curved downwards. These observations fully confirm what has just been quoted from Dr. Graham. They show that the rate of growth of the flower bud must be very rapid. In the tropics where the whole plant matures and ripens its fruit within 12 months, the flower bud probably takes only a few weeks to push its way from the base to the top of the stem. From the time of flowering until the fruit is ripe takes about six to eight weeks. In the non-stoloniferous species the whole plant is strictly monocarpic, and reproduces itself not by shoots but by seeds.* The majority of species are, however, reproduced by buds or shoots which spring from the perennial rootstock. The shape of the pseudo-stem varies a good deal. In one section the stems are bottle-shapsd, having a swollen distended appearance. This is very noticeable in MW. superba. Usually the stem is cylindrical, gradually tapering from the base upwards. In WM. Ensete the stem is 6 to 10 feet high, andjvery stout. In YM. Hillii it is about 30 feet high, and moderately stout only. Again, in WM. Mannii, it is only 2-3 feet high and 1 inch in diameter. The stems of most species are green, with occasional blotches of black, red, or purple. Those in the banana (VW. sapientum) are often described as green and “purple spotted”; while in the plantain (variety M. paradisiaca) they are said to be wholly “green.” These characters are, however, not constant. The stem of M. (sapientwm) dacca is “ pruinose,”’ and appears covered with glittering particles of fine dew. In M. (sapientum) rubra the stem is dull-red, while the interesting M Fehi has a greenish stem with violet juice. * Kurz, however, remarks that even in non-stoloniferous species shocts are occasionally produced. ‘‘I remember,” he says, “a plant of Musa glauca in the Botanical Gardens at Java, which threw out two shoots; and if accounts be correct M. Hnsete is said to make shoots if the whole plant is cut down before flowering.” 6 The leaves, arranged in a loose rosette, are large, oblong, and entire, with a very prominent midrib, and numerous straight, transverse veins. The free portion of the petiole may be long or short. Usually the leaves are bright green on both sides, sometimes darker above and glaucous beneath, rarely with a narrow red edge. In the young state the leaves have narrowly hyaline margins, either beautifully crimson or white. The midrib is semi-cylindrical below, with a deep rounded groove above. The blades on each side of the midrib are generally flat, but sometimes hang down. The large leaves of M. Hnsete have been already noticed, the petiole is short; broad, deeply channelled. The midrib is red. In M. Cavendishii the leaves are arranged in a dense rosette, and are rather glaucous. The petiole is short and stout, with two broad, crisped, green edges. The leaves in WM. discolor are glaucous, tinged with violet or red. In M. Fitzalani they are patent; in M. rosacea linear-oblong, and tinged with purple beneath. M. zebrina has the leaves barred with purple; MM. (sapientum) vittata barred with white ; and WM. swmatrana with irregular blotches of claret-brown. From the centre of the leafy envelopes at the top of the pseudo-stem emerges the flowering spike, which tapers very slightly upwards. Only the uppermost part of it becomes exserted from the leaf-crown, and it is often furnished here with comparatively diminutive cauline leaves, which more or less abruptly pass into the floral bracts. This spike varies greatly in size and length, not only with the species, but according to soil and treatment under cultivation. It is composed of many clusters of flowers arranged at intervals along the rachis. Each cluster is subtended by a large spathaceous and membranous bract. The lower part of the rachis, or the peduncle, is as often shortly tomentose or puberulous as it is glabrous, and such variations, according to Kurz, occur in the same variety. It is also furrowed, although the furrows are often obsolete. In some species the spike is erect, as in M. Fehi. In WM. discolor it is drooping, and as long as the leaves. In M. proboscidea it is nearly as long as the pseudo-stem (5-6 feet). The bracts are most conspicuous and large in all species of Musa. They are important in the discrimination of species. They entirely cover the half-whorls of flowers, and are so densely laid one upon the other that they form a sort of flower cone, which the Malays call djantong. The lowermost bracts are always larger and more elongate, and Lear usually no flowers in their axils. The nature of the outside of the bracts, whether furrowed and variously pruinose to mealy, or smooth and glossy to almost polished, furnishes good distinctive characters. The colour, too, is of value, although great variations occur. The enormously large bracts of M. Ensete, 14 to 2 feet long, are claret- brown and persistent. In others they fall off with the abortive flowers. M. sapientum has bracts of a dull violet colour more or less glaucous outside. In one section (Jthodochlamys) the species have very highly coloured bracts, generally red or yellow. WU. salaccensis has pale lilac bracts, while in I. coccinea, a very ornamental species, they are bright red, tipped with yellow; in UY. aurantiaca they are bright orange. The flowers, arranged in half-whorls, are inserted upon crescent- shaped protuberances of the rachis. They are usually arranged in two rows and subtended by the bract. The lowermost clusters of flowers are generally female or pistillate (or as Kurz describes them hermaphrodite- female) as the stamens are reduced orabsent. The whorls further along 7 the rachis have staminate or male flowers (hermaphrodite-male) as, although the pistil is present and smaller, it is not functional. In a general sense the lowermost flowers are said to be female and the upper male flowers. Hence it is only the lowermost flowers, near the base, that produce fruit, and the normal state is to have only a few fruit-whorls at this part, while the male-hermaphrodite flowers and their bracts drop off successively leaving a warted nude rachis, terminating ina flower cone formed by the innermost bracts of the male flowers. Fertilization in bananas is probably effected by the action of the wind; the pollen is spherical and smooth. In MM. Ensete, Kurz describes the pollen grains astubercled. In many cases the conditions are favourable to self-fertiliza- tion, especially when the whole spike consists of hermaphrodite flowers. Under glass it would no doubt be an advantage to fertilize the flowers artificially, as thereby a more abundant crop of fruit would be produced. and rare species preserved. This was successfully done at Kew in regard to M. Ensete in 1860, and repeated with other species later. Cross fertilization also might be effected in order to produce vew varieties. It is possible that in the natural state this has influenced varieties to a larger extent than is supposed. There is a tendency to abnormal parts in the flowers of Musas, but usually they are as follows :— The calyz at first tubular, is soon slit down on one side, and 3-5 toothed at the apex. The petal, placed opposite the calyx, is simple or tricus- pidate. The stgmens are normally six, but one is usually suppressed : in the others the anthers are two-celled and basifixed. Ovary cylindrical, three-celled ; ovules many in a cell, superposed ; style filiform from a thickened base; stigma shortly lobed. The fruit is a berry, elongate or short, pulpy or dry, angular, oblong, or cylindrical. The sharpness and distinctness of the corners of the fruit depend upon the amount of pressure to which they are subjected in the whorls. Consequently the angles are sharper where the fruit whorls are more crowded and compact. On the other hand, where the fruits are very loosely disposed they are more rounded or terete. Seeds, when produced, are sub-globose or angled by pressure, often excavated at the hilum. The testa is very hard, intruded at the base and apex ; albumen mealy, the embryo sub-truncate. There is great variety as regards the size, shape, colour, and texture of the fruit. In one section (Physocaulis) the fruit is always coriaceous or leathery, with numerous large sub-globose angled seeds. In the pulpy or edible-fruited species the fruit, when ripe, may be smooth or rough, opaque or glossy, yellow or reddish; or it may be bright yellow, violet, tinged with blood red, straw-yellow, yellowish red, yellowish green, or white. It may be from 3 to 10 or even 18 inches long, oblong, cylindrical, or indistinctly angular, sometimes with a blunt end or some- times produced, as in the singular “ duck plantain” of the Malays, with a beak nearly as long as its body. It may be shortly stalked, sessile or produced at the end of pedicels 2 or 3 inches long. In the section Ethodochlamys only one species (M. maculata) produces edible fruit, the others have small dry fruit, filled with seeds, and not edible. In UM, velutina the fruit is velvety and bright red, in M. lasiocarpa, pubescent, with 4-6 seeds filling up the whole cavity. In the pulpy or edible-fruited species, known as bananas or plantains, the fruits are arranged in clusters. Some stand straight out ; others are slightly curled outwards and upwards; while not a few are 3: quite recurved pointing upwards parallel with the rachis and over- — lapping each other. Again, the fruits may be loosely arranged, hardly - touching one another; or they may be compactly or even densely crowded together so as to completely hide the rachis. The Jamaica ~ banana, for instance, has the fruits ‘“‘compactly but not densely arranged, recurved, almost parallel with the axis.” In the Surinam banana — the fruits “ are laxly arranged, the first series somewhat re-curved, the rest spreading nearly at right angles to the axis.” In the Chinese or dwarf banana the fruits “are lax, spreading outwards, hardly over- lapping.” The plantains (the vegetable) have generally fewer and looser fruits. These may be “laxly spreading outwards” or “curled upwards like a horn.” ‘The individual fruits are usually larger than in the banana, the pulp firm and the colour yellowish-green, or yellow when ripe, not red. The fruit clusters are called “hands.” Each hand may vary from — 3 to 10, or in exceptional instances to 18, on each spike. Again, a hand may consist of 8 to 18 single fruits or “fingers.” The total number of fruits produced on a “bunch” may be as low as 24, or as high as 250 or more. ‘The weight of a bunch may be from 30 to 90 pounds. After fruiting the stem dies. Its place is however taken by several new shoots or stolons thrown up from the base. These grow closely to- gether, and the next year two or three may bear bunches of fruit. When once planted the produce of banana trees on a small area is exceptionally large. Hence Humboldt has calculated that, although less nutritious than wheat or potatoes, yet the space occupied by their culture and the care required render the produce of bananas compared to wheat as 123 to 1, and to that of potatoes as 44 to 1. The bananas (using the word in a general sense) are amongst those cultivated plants of which we know the wild stock; we are also acquainted with one or more intermediate forms between the wild and cultivated so that the transition in the evolution of the pulpy fruit without seeds from the dry fruit full of seeds can be observed. In the case of M. Fehi, found wild in Tahiti, Fiji, and New Caledonia, accord- | ing to Dr. Sagot well-formed seeds are not very common, and hence this species exhibits even in the wild condition a tendency to abortion of the seeds and a compensating hypertrophy of the pulp. Musas ina wild state are chiefly found in India, the Malay Archipelago, Cochin- China, Philippines, Northern Australia, and the Islands of the Pacific. A remarkable group of large species with swollen stems and leathery fruits are found in Africa. The true bananas are apparently Indian, Malayan, and Polynesian. They have been cultivated from the earliest times, and the facility with which suckers can be transported, and the long period during which they retain their vitality, have rendered them particularly easy of distribution. There are no plants that require ~ less care to establish. The most familiar of cultivated Musas are those originally described by Linneeus as M. sapientum and M. paradisiaca. Species or Musa. Although it has usually been believed that only one or two species of Musa yield edible fruit it will be found that besides the numberless varieties of MW. sapientum, including the-common bananas or plantains ~ of tropical countries, there are several other species which are cultivated ~ . ate eee AI ee ee ee tte oe ee w+ ambees wes tome meee Denes ~ + SS aN ee ee r tt im SS ne arte ane ee ee 1 MURR RTE aTE eee Um Be em eee vege ee et PRR Oe eA 6 eNOS OOO © Ott RP em etm ae ~ ed ad on se to Musa Ensete, Gmel. (Botanical Magazine, t. 5223.) 10 for their fruit, and not a few that are grown for other purposes, such as yielding an edible rootstock or for the sake of the tender flower bud eaten as a vegetable. The most widely cultivated species next to M. sapientum is M. Cavendishit, the dwarf or Chinese banana, introduced to Europe within the last 50 years. Then, according to Kurz, a large proportion of the best varieties of plantains cultivated in the Malay archipelago are derived from MM. acuminata. A very palatable fruit with violet pulp is yielded by MW. discolor in New Caledonia. M. Fehi has an erect fruiting spike, and the fruit, when cooked is universally used in the Pacific Islands. Lastly, WM. maculata with a yellow fruit spotted with brown, known only as cultivated in Mauritius and Bourbon under the name of Figue mignonne, has an aromatic white pulp. The rhizome of J. oleracea is boiled or roasted like a yam; and the inner bud of M. Ensete isa source of food supply in Abyssinia. In some form or other, however, every species of JZusa is of economic importance and the numerous uses to which they are put in various parts of the world are only equalled possibly by the palms and bamboos. The three sub-genera into which Musa is divided by Mr. Baker are as follows :— 1. Sub-genus Physocaulis (Swollen-stemmed Musas).—Stem bottle-shaped and usually not stoloniferous. Flowers many to a bract. Petal usually tricuspidate. Fruit not edible. In this group are all the species known to be indigenous to Africa, namely : M. ventricosa, M. Buchanani, M. livingstoniana, and M. proboscidea. Of Asiatic species Mr. Baker gives two, I. superba and M. nepalensis. The latter said to be from the ‘lower hills of Nepal’ has not been found since the days of Wallich and is quite unknown at the present time. 2. Sub-genus Humusa (true Musas).—Stem cylindrical, gradually tapering from the base, usually stoloniferous, Flowers many to a bract. Petal ovate-acuminate. Bracts green, brown, or dull violet. Fruit usually edible. The species in this group divide naturally, according to their height, into dwarf-stemmed and tall- stemmed species. The dwarfare two Chinese species, VW. lasiocarpa and WM. Cavendishii. The tall are M. sapientum and its allies, about a dozen species in all. They are widely distributed throughout EKastern Asia, India to China, and Japan, Borneo, New Guinea, North Queensland, and the Islands of the Pacific. 2, Sub-genus Rhodochlamys' (red-bracteated Musas).—Stem cylindrical as in true Musas, usually stoloniferous. Flowers few to a bract. Petal linear. Fruit usually not edible. Bracts bright coloured, often red. Twelve species are included here. One only (M. maculata) yields edible fruit. The others, such as J. coccinea, M. rubra, M. velutina, and M. aurantiaca, owing to their brightly coloured bracts, are very ornamental. All are from India, Assam, Sumatra, Java, and Cochin-China. Key to the Sub-genera and Species of Musa. Sub-genus PHYSOCAULIS, Baker. Stems short, bottle-shaped. Male flowers many toa bract. Fruit not edible. Usually not stoloniferous. Seeds few, large (about an inch broad) : Male flowers 15-20 in a row. Petal tricuspidate - - - 1. M. Ensete. Petal ovate, entire : . - 2. M ventricosa. Male flowers, about 10inarow - - 3. M. Buchanani. at Seeds many, comparatively small : African : Hilum of the seed deeply depressed, surrounded by prominentedges - 4. M. living- stoniana. Hilum of the seed, but slightly depressed - - - ). M. proboscidea. Indian : Flowers 10-15 in a row; _ bracts sub-orbicular, claret-brown - - 6. M. superba. Flowers 7-8 in a row; lower bracts ovate, dull lilac . - - 7. M. nepalensis. Sub-genus Eumosa, Baker. Stems cylindrical. Male flowers many toa bract. Fruit generally edible. Usually stoloniferous. Dwarf species, with short petiole : Membranous yellow bracts and _ pube- scent fruit - - - - 8. M. lasiocarpa. Bracts firmer ; fruit glabrous: Stem very short ; many upper flowers sterile - - - - 9. M. Cavendishii. Stem longer; flowers all fertile - 10. WM. nana, Tall species, with long petiole: Petal small, tricuspidate” - - - Ll. MM. glauca. Petal ovate, entire : Fruit narrowed into a beak : Fruit many, smaller - - 12. MW. acuminata. Fruit few, larger = - 13. M.corniculata. Fruit not narrowed into a beak : Spike dense, erect or sub-erect : Fruit not edible, ovoid - 14. M. Milli. Fruit edible, oblong - - 15. M. Fehi. Spike drooping : Fruit with a long distinct stipe - - - - 16. M. Banksii. Fruit with a short distinct stipe - - - - 17. M. Fitzalani. Fruit sessile, or sub-sessile : Leaves firm in _ texture, yielding good fibre 18. M. tezxtilis. Leaves not firm in texture, yielding poor fibre : Leaves smaller, glaucous - - 19. M. discolor. Leaves, larger, green: Petal as long as calyx - 20. M. Basjoo. Petal shorter than calyx : Rachis of spike pubescent : Bracts brown outside - 21. M. malaccensis. Bracts yellow outside - 22. M. flava. Rachis of spike glabrous - 23. MW. sapientum. 12 Sub-genus RHODOCHLAMYS, Baker. Stems slender, cylindrical. Male flowers few to a bract. Fruit not generally edible. Usually stoloniferous. Fruit edible ; bracts yellow-brown - - 24. M. maculata. Fruit not edible : Leaves large ; fruit distinctly stipitate - 25. M.sumatrana. Leaves smaller; fruit not distinctly stipitate : Bracts pale or dark lilac : Petal shorter than the calyx - 26. M. violascens. Petal nearly or quite as long as the calyx : Flowers yellow - - 27. M. rosacea. Flowers greenish - - 28. M. salaccensis. Bracts red : . Fruit hairy : - - 29. M. velutina. Fruit glabrous : Petal nearly or quite as long as the calyx : Bracts crimson - - 30. M. coccinea. Bracts pale red - - 31. M. rosea. Bracts blood-red - 32. UM. sanguinea. Petal much _ shorter than the calyx : Bracts bright red - 33. M. rubra. Bracts pale red - - 34. M. Mannii. Bracts bright orange - 3d. M. aurantiaca. Sub-genus Physocaulis. Swollen-stemmed Musas. [An asterisk is prefixed to those species and varieties of which examples are in cultivation at Kew. ] *1, Musa Ensete, Gmel. Abyssinian Banana. Native name “ Ensete.” Bot. Mag., t. 5223-4. North Gallery, No. 516. Whole plant 30-40 feet high. Stem swollen at the base, not stoloniferous. Leaves oblong acute, sometimes 20 feet long and 3 feet broad with a red midrib. Bracts densely imbricated 9 to 12 inches long, dark claret brown. Fruit coriaceous, dry, 2 to 3 inches long. Seeds 1-4 black, glossy, nearly an inch broad with a prominent raised border round the hilum. Distri- bution :—Mountains of Abyssinia to the hills of equatorial Africa ; southward of Victoria Nyanza Lake. The largest known banana. The flowers of a specimen that flowered at Kew in 1878 are preserved in the Kew Museum; also a series of seeds from Abyssinia (Plowden) ; Nyanza Lake (Kirk); prepared fibre from stem from Abyssinia (Plowden), Jamaica (Morris), and a specimen grown at Kew. ; It was discovered by the traveller Bruce and is remarkable as being represented on ancient Egyptian sculptures. Plants growing in the 13 cool climate of the Blue Mountains in Jamaica at 4,000 feet are described by Mr. Morris (Native and other Fibre Plants, 1884, p. 38) as having “leaves 20 feet long; the stem about 8 feet in circumference at the base, with a height of 30 feet; the total weight of a single plant was not less than a quarter of a ton.” An illustration of the Jamaica plant is given in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, 1881 [1], p. 435. This species is well adapted for sub-tropical countries such as South California, Florida, Algeria,and Canary Islands, and isoften put outfor the summer in the London Parks. When established in sheltered situations it isa very ornamental plant having a noble and majestic habit. The fruit is useless for purposes of food. As the plant produces no offsets and perishes after fruiting it is propagated entirely from seed. *2. M. ventricosa, Welw. Whole plant 8 to 10 feet high. Stem much swollen, 4 feet in diameter at the base. Leaves oblanceolate-oblong, 4 to 5 feet long, thick in texture, with a pale-red midrib. Differs from other species of this section by its entire petal. Fruit like that of UY. Ensete. Seeds large, dull black with a broad hollow at the hilum. Distribution :—found in Angola, province of Pungo Andongo, in rocky places near rivulets 10°S. lat. by Welwitsch. M. africana, Bull. Cat., is probably this species in a young state ; as also a plant lately received at Kew from St. Petersburgh under the same name. Seeds of this species are in the Kew Museum. 3. M. Buchanani, Baker. Nearly allied to M. Ensete, but the bracts are linear-oblong, 1-15 feet long, 24-4 in. broad. Flowers 10 in a row. Seeds as large as those of M. Hnsete, glossy, black, not tubercled. Dried specimens only received from Mr. John Buchanan, C.M.G., from the Shire Highlands, East Africa, 1885. 4. M. livingstoniana, Kirk. Stem conical, twice the height of a man, 2-3 feet diameter at the base. Leaves narrow oblong, crowded, as long as the trunk, with a short, broad-clasping, deeply channelled petiole. Fruit many seeded 4 inches long. Seeds globose, angled by pressure in the lower half, ¢ inch diameter, duli brown tubercled with a depressed hilum, surrounded by prominentedges. Described from sketches, notes, and seeds brought from south-east tropical Africa by Sir John Kirk, G.C.M.G. Distribution :—Between 12°iand 19° S. lat. in region of Lake Nyassa. A necklace of similar seeds is in the Kew Museum sent from Sierra Leone by Barter. This species has once been under cultivation at Kew, but is probably unknown in Europe at the present time. ~Kew Bull, 1894, pp. 225-226. . d. M. proboscidea, Oliver, in Hooker’s Icon. Plant, t. 1777.. Trunk dilated at the base, reaching 4-5 times the height of a man. Leaves narrow oblong, very large, narrowed to the base ; free petiole, short, deeply channelled. Spike finally drooping, very much elongated, nearly as long as the stem; bracts broad, ovate, obtuse, about 4 times as long as the flowers; flowers in two close rows of about 12 in a row. Petal very short with two orbicular outer lobes, and a large linear central cusp. Seeds turbinate, black, glossy, + inch broad and long, with only asmall hollow at thehilum. Distribution :-— Known from seeds and four photographs in the Kew Museum procured by Sir John Kirk, G.C.M.G., from the Hills of Ukami, about 100 miles inland from Zanzibar. Kew Bull., 1894, pp. 225-226, 14 *6. M. superba, Roxb. Bot. Mag., t. 3849-50. Whole plant reach- ing a height of 10-12 feet. Trunk not stoloniferous, much dilated, 7-8 feet in circumference at the base, narrowed to 3 feet below the leaves. Leaves oblong, narrowed to the base; free petiole, very short, deeply channelled. Spike at first globose, a foot in diameter, finally drooping, a third the length of the trunk ; bracts orbicular, dull claret- brown, reaching a foot in length and breadth; flowers in two dense rows of 10-15 each. Petal short, tricuspidate, with a large linear central cusp. Fruit oblong, sub-coriaceous, 3 inches long, 14 inches diameter. Seeds very numerous, sub-globose, angled by pressure, 4-4} inch diameter, smooth, brown. Distribution :—Western Ghauts of the Bombay Presidency. Native name at Nasik, Chavai. According to Dr. Ritchie, this species is stemless on rocks in the Rama Ghauts. Fruits are in the Kew Museum from Travancore (1874) and Trivan- Ness - - ie YS \ Musa superba, Roxb. (Whole plant greatly reduced.) 1. Pistillate flower. 2. Staminate flower, 3. Fruit. 4, Cross section of fruit, 15 drum (1875). A fibre from “Jungle plantain (VM. superba)” is shown from Mangalore, the chief town of South Kanara, in the Madras Presidency, and from the Botanic Gardens, Mauritius, Col.-Ind. Exhibition, 1886. 7. M. nepalensis, Wal/. This is principally known from two large unpublished drawings by Wallich now at Kew. It is not anywhere in cultivation. Dr. King, F.R.S., in a letter dated Calcutta 22nd August 1893, writes :—“I do not believe in the existence of the species which Wallich called M. nepalensis. I have never been able to hear of, or find, any specimens of a big non-stoloniferous plantain on the lower slopes of the Himalaya. I have made inquiries in Nepal where Wallich says it grows. Wallich must have described Roxburgh’s M. glauca under the name nepilensis.” Subgenus HEumusa. True Musas, 8. M. lasiocarpa, Franchet. A singular species only about 1-2 feet high, known by the Chinese of Yunnan as Ngay-tsiao (Rock banana). Musa lasiocarpa, Franchet. 1. Whole plant (2 feet high) much reduced. 2. Section of rhizome surmounted hi D eS ag portions of leaf-sheaths. 3, Fruit with seeds. 4. Flower. 5. Calyx, . Petal. 16 The rhizome is 2-3 inches in diameter and crowned with successive frills of the lower persistent leaf-sheath. The small petioled leaves rise almost directly from the ground. The spike is erect, very dense, with prominent bracts. The fruit is dry, pubescent on the outside, hence the name, and contains 4-6 seeds. This interesting plant is regarded by Franchet as the type of a new section called Musella. It is remarkable for the absence of a stem, the pubescent character of its fruit, the dense form of the inflorescence, the persistency of all the bracts, and the complete absence of pulp in thefruit. The Abbé Delavay discovered the plant in 1885 in the mountainous regions of Yunnan on the rocks of Loko-chan and Che-tong near Tapin-tze, at an elevation of 4,000 feet. He states that it is easy of cultivation, and he has grown it in his garden for four years, but had not flowered it. Journ. de Bot., vol. iii. (1889), pp. 329-331. *9. M. Cavendishii, Zamb. M. chinensis, Sweet (name only); North Gallery, Nos. 225, 816; M. sinensis, Sagot. Stoloniferous. Whole plant 4-6 feet high; leaves 6-8 inches in a dense rosette, spreading, oblong, 2-3 feet long, about a foot broad, much rounded at the base, rather glaucous; petiole short, stout, deeply channelled, with two broad crisped green edges. Rachis short, stout. Spike dense, oblong, 1-2 feet long, drooping ; bracts red-brown or dark brown, ovate, the lower 6 inches long, the upper 3-4 inches; male flowers and their bracts persistent. Petal ovate, entire. Fruit as many as 200-250 toa panicle, oblong, 6-angled, slightly curved, 4-5 inches long, above 14 inches diameter, obtuse, narrowed gradually to the sessile base, seedless, edible, with a rather thick skin and delicate fragrant flesh. Distribution :—Native of Southern China. Cultivated in Mauritius, and introduced to England in 1827. This is now extensively cultivated in all tropical and sub-tropical countries and known as the “ Chinese or Dwarf”’ banana. It furnishes a large proportion of the bananas usually sold in this country. The wild seed-bearing form is not yet known. WM. Massoni, Sagot (name only), supposed to be wild at the Gaboon and cultivated in Bourbon, is said to be like M. Cavendishii, but with slightly different fruit. The interesting story of the introduction of the Chinese banana to the islands of Polynesia is thus told by Seemann (Flora Vitiensis, p. 289) :— *‘ An important addition to their stock of bananas the Fijians received in the Vudi ni papalagi (1.e., foreign banana), our Musa chinensis or Cavendishii, which the late John Williams, better known as the Martyr of Eromanga, brought in a wardian case from the Duke of Devonshire’s seat at Chatsworth to the Samoan or Navigator Islands, whence again, in 1848, the Rev. George Pritchard carried it to the Tongan or Friendly Islands, as well as to the Fijis. Its introduction has put an effectual stop to those famines which previously to this event were occasionally experienced in some of these islands. Never attaining any greater height than 6 feet, and being of robust growth, the Cavendish banana is but little affected by the violent winds which cause such damage amongst plantations of the taller kinds of Musa ; and this ad- vantage, coupled with its abundant yield and the fine flavour of its fruit, have induced the natives to propagate it to such an extent that, not- withstanding its comparatively recent introduction, the Vudi ni papalagt numbers amongst the most common bananas of the country.” A sample of fibre from the stem of MW. Cavendishii is in the Kew Museum, from Jamaica, prepared by Nathaniel Wilson. 10. M. nana, Zour. Trunk cylindrical, 5 feet long, 4 foot diameter, leaves oblong-ovate, 3 feet high; spike short, recurved ; flowers all 17 fertile. Stamens often six or more. Fruit ovate-oblong, edible, seed- less. According to Loureiro this is a native of Cochin-China, where it is called Chuoi duwii. It is, however, unknown to M. Pierre. Mr. Baker thinks it may be a form of M. Cavendishii, Lamb, with a taller stem and staminate flowers abortive. . Rhinozerotis, of Kurz, said to be like M. nana, but with all the sheaths of the leaves enveloping one another, and with persistent bracts and flowers all fertile, is unknown at Kew. 11. M. glauca, Roxb. Not stoloniferous. Trunk cylindrical, 10- 12 feet high, 6-8 inches diameter. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, 4-5 feet long, pale and glaucous; shortly petioled. Spike drooping from the base ; bracts greenish, persistent. Fruit oblong, 4-5 inches long, 15 inches diameter ; truncate at the apex, narrowed gradually to the sessile base. Seeds smooth, globose, nearly black, 4-inch diameter. Pegu ; introduced to the Calcutta Botanical Garden by Mr. F. Carey in 1810. This has fowers like VW. superba, and a cylindrical trunk like M. sapientum. Roxburgh in his Coromandel Plants, iii. 96, adds, “Like my M. superba it never produces suckers, consequently it must be reared from seed, which it furnishes in great abundance; the fruit containing little else, even fit for a monkey to eat.” 12. M. acuminata, Colla (M. simiarum, Rumph); M. rumphiana, Kurz. Stem high, cylindrical, stoloniferous at the base. Leaves oblong, 5-6 feet long, glaucous beneath, deltoid at the base, firmer than those of MW. sapientum; petiole 1-14 feet long, almost with- out any membranous edge. Spike drooping, shorter than the leaves ; male flowers deciduous; bracts lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, violet, only one of those of the female flowers opened at once and revolute, those of the male clusters involute at the edge. Calyx white or yellowish, 1-14 inches long ; petal ovate-acuminate, nearly as long as the calyx. Fruit in 4-6 clusters of 10-12 each, oblong, rostrate, 2-4 inches long, 1-15 inches diameter; skin not easily peeled off; flesh sweet. Seeds dull black,angled by pressure, } inch diameter. Distribution:—Common in Java and the other Malay islands extending eastward to New Guinea. Kurz, who studied this species carefully on the spot, says that a large proportion of the bananas which are cultivated in the Malay Archipelago are derived from it, and that its best varieties are superior to all those derived from M. sapientum in quality and delicacy. Typical 12. acuminata is wild and has fruit full of seed. From this several seedless cultivated varieties are derived, differing in the colour of the leaves and fruit. They all have the leaves glaucous beneath, and in one form the waxy bloom is so copious that torches are made from it. Var. violacea, Kurz, has its stems, leaves and flowers more or less tinged with dark purple, and purple 3-5 angled fruit with a thick beak. Its native name is “ pisang teembaya” or “ pisang hoorang ”’ (copper or crab plantain). Var.cu/ta, Kurz, is larger in all its parts, with much larger whitish or yellowish flowers,and longer cylindrical or angled yellow or greenish seedless fruit. Of this there are 48 distinguishable forms, of which the most curious is the Duck plantain (“ pisang moo- look bebbek ”’), the fruit of which has a beak nearly as long as its body. Baker refers here M. paradisiaca, Zollinger. Probably M. Berteri, Colla (M. alphurica, Rwmph), which has green and leaf-like lower bracts and pale yellow ripe fruit a span long, is a variety of this species. Nothing is known of M. Karang, Kurz, of which the fruit is said to be angular, short, and thick-beaked, and the bracts yellow inside. 23099 B 18 13. M. corniculata (Rumph, Amboin. V. 130), Lour. Fl. Cochinch. 644; native name in Cochin-China, Chuoi bot. Stem cylindrical, 10-12 feet high, as thick as the human thigh. Leaves oblong, green, 5-6 feet long; petiole 1-14 feet long. Spike droop- ing, only the 2-3, rarely 4 lower bracts and flower whorls developed, the former oblong-lanceolate, a foot long. Calyx deeply five-toothed. Petal ovate-acuminate, nearly as long as the calyx. Fruit cylindrical, a foot or more long, 15-24 inches diameter, narrowed gradually to the apex and sessile base, golden-yellow when ripe; skin thick ; pulp reddish-white, firm, dry, sweet, very palatable when cooked. Distribution ;—Malay Islands and Cochin China. Kurz compares the fruit to a cucumber as regards shape and size and describes five varieties, but considers it to be probably only an extreme form of M. acuminata. A curious form is the Lubang variety, of which the stem is said to produce only a single fruit large enough for a full meal for three men. *14. M. Hillii, F. Muell. Not stoloniferous. Stem robust, about 30 feet high and a diameter of 14 feet. Leaves similar to M. sapientum. Spike dense, erect. Fruit densely crowded, not edible. Seeds numerous, angled, much depressed 4-4 inch diameter, with a bony testa. Distvibution :—Queensland, banks of the Daintree river, with the two species following. A plant at Kew resembles WZ. troglodytarum, Linn. No doubt this is WM. Jackeyi, Kurz, l.c. This species has lately flowered at Kew. [Bot. Mag. t. 7401. ] *15. M. Fehi, Bertero; M. Fei, Nadeaud. Stoloniferous. Trunk cylindrical, 15-20 feet high, greenish, full of violet juice. Leaves larger and firmer in texure than in M. sapientum and paradisiaca, with stouter veins; midrib green ; base unequally rounded ; petiole 1-14 feet long. Spike long, erect, slightly curved only at the base. Flowers b-8 in a cluster, sessile. Calyx with 5 unequal lobes, split finally nearly to the base. Petal short. Fruit many in a bunch, oblong, angled 5-6 inches long by above an inch in diameter, nearly straight, yellow when ripe, with a thick skin and moderately firm pulp, not very palatable when raw, but excellent when cooked. Seedssmall, dull black. Distribution; —Common in the forests of Tahiti,whereit is largely used for food, seedless at the low levels, but occasionally bearing seeds at an alti- tude of 3,000-3,600 feet. Native name Feit. Found also sparingly by Vieillard in New Caledonia, there called Daak. We have young plants at the present time in the Kew collection. Probably the Fijian 1. Seemanni, F’. Mueil, of which a photograph, sent by Sir John Thurston, is reproduced here from Gard. Chron., 1890 [2], 182, fig. 28, is the same species. This is M. wranoscopos, Seem., and M. troglodytarwm, Kurz (in part). We have also leaves from the Rev. T. Powell of a plant from Samoa _ called “ Laufoo,” which probably belongs here. An interesting account of the seedless and seed-bearing forms of M. Fehi is given by Dr. Sagot in Bull. Soc. Botanique de France, xxxiii., pp. 317-326. 16. M. Banksii, /’. Muell; M. banksiana, Kurz. Stoloniferous, with trunk like that of MM. sapientum. Spike drooping. Fruit quite cylindrical when dry, without any angle, narrowed suddenly to aslender stipe 1-2 inches long. Seeds grey, sub-globose, } inch diam., angled in the lower half. Diéistribution:—Queensland, Mount Elliot and Rocking- ham bay. Very like WZ. sapientum in stem and leaf, but totally different in fruit. It yields a fibre of poor quality. A sample received from Mr. W. R. Guilfoyle, F.L.S., is in the Kew Museum, where the fruit (from Sir F. von Mueller) and seeds (from Mr. L. A. Bernays, C.M.G.) are also shown. 19 ‘ : *. Vat Y \ Np ) wea > Rx S SS ZB ¥ ; : ; q oe ee epee VS ‘ Si af AED WN SEIS mes Y & : P xn wt EEE AN Sr “$c RADE BRON Musa Seemanni, F. M. From Gardeners’ Chronicle, 1890 [2]), fig. 28. 17. M. Fitzalani, 7. Muell. Stem 20 feet high. Leaves patent. Spike drooping. Fruit oblong, angled, yellow when ripe, not pulpy, 2-3 inches long, narrowed suddenly to a thick stipe about 4 inch long. Seeds numerous, filling the cells, angular, depressed, scarcely 4 inch in diameter. Queensland. MM. Charlioi, Walter Hill, in Report of the 23099 B32 20 Brisbane Garden, 1874, is said to have stems 40-50 feet high, leaves 5-6 feet long, and fruit 3-4 inches long. 7 3 *18. M. textilis, Née; (M. mindanensis, Rwmph) ; M. sylvestris, Colla; M. troglodytarum textoria, Blanco. Stem cylindrical, green, 20 feet or more high, stoloniferous from the base. Leaves oblong, deltoid at the base, bright green above, rather glaucous beneath, smaller and firmer in texture than those of M. sapientum; petiole a foot long. Spike drooping, shorter than the leaves; male flowers deciduous ; bracts firmer in texture than those of WZ. sapientum, naked and polished outside, not at all pruinose, brown. Female flowers in several laxly- disposed clusters. Fruit green, oblong trigonous, curved, 2-3 inches long, 1 inch diameter, not narrowed to the apex, but narrowed to the short stout stipe, not edible, but filled with seed. Seeds black, turbinate, ¢ inch diameter, angled by pressure. Distribution :— Widely distributed and cultivated in the Philippine Islands under the name of Abaca. It ascends the mountains in the wild state to the lower limit of Pinus insularis. It is cultivated (at elevations of 200 feet to 500 feet) for the sake of its cordage fibre, one of the most valuable known for the manufacture of white ropes. The plant has been introduced to other tropical countries, but, so far, it has not succeeded anywhere so well as in the Philippines. (Kew Bull., 1887, April, pp. 1-3.) Var. M. amboinensis, Rumph. Stem not so tall. Spike not so drooping. Fruit as long as a man’s finger, black at maturity. Native of Amboyna. A very complete set of specimnens of fruit (Ceylon), seeds (Manila), of prepared hemp, cords, ropes, mats, plaited work, hats, lace handker- chiefs from M. textilis are shown in the Kew Museum, Dried specimens of the inflorescence of this species are desired for the Kew Herbarium ; while a portion of the spike preserved in spirit would be a valuable addition to the Museum. *19. M. discolor, Horan. Stoloniferous. Stem slender, cylindrical, 6-10 feet high. Leaves narrow-oblong, smaller and firmer in texture than in WZ. sapientum, rounded ai the base, glaucous, tinged with violet or red beneath when young; petiole a foot or more long. Spike drooping, finally as long as the leaves; bracts reddish, the upper only persisting ; male flowers deciduous. Fruit cylindrical, angled, rather curved, umbonate at the apex, rather dry, reddish-violet, very palatable, with a violet pulp, and a rather musky scent. Distribution :—This species is cultivated in Polynesia and especially in New Caledonia, where it bears the name of Colaboute, and is said by Vieillard to be wild there. It produces no fertile seeds. It is in cultivation in this country and there is a drawing at Kew by Fitch of a plant that flowered in the Gardens many years ago. The stem yields a textile fibre which is used for fish- baskets, &c. *20. M. Basjoo, Sieb. et Zucc.; Bot. Mag. t. 7182; M. japonica Hort. Stoloniferous. Stem cylindrical, 6-9 feet high, 6-8 inches diameter. Leaves oblong, thin, bright green, 6-9 feet long, 13-25 feet broad, deltoid at the base; petiole stout, about a foot long. Rachis stout, arcuate, a foot long. Spike dense, 1-1} feet long ; female 21 clusters 3-4, close, of 12-15 flowers each; bracts oblong, dull brown, the lower 8-12 inches long; male clusters 8-12, their bracts much imbricated, persistent. Calyx whitish, 2 inches long, shortly five- toothed at the tip. Fruit oblong-trigonous 3 inches long, umbonate at the apex, narrowed gradually to the sessile base. Seeds not seen. Distribution :—Liu Kiu archipelago (25° to 30° N. lat.); cultivated in Southern Japan. Introduced into cultivation in England by Messrs. Veitch of Chelsea. Described from a plant that flowered in the Temperate House at Kew in 1891. It is said to be as hardy as M. Ensete. Itis grown in Southern Japan for its fibre. An interesting Series of articles made from this “ Japanese piantain,” consisting of fibre, cloth and other fabrics, is in the Kew Museum, presented by Mr. J. H. Veitch, F.L.S. The cloth is used for making screens, and for binding books. *M. Martini, Rev. Hort. Belg. 1892, 107, fig. 12, has the habit of M. sapientum, and is said to be more hardy than M. Hnsete, with bright rose-red flowers. The leaves are oblong, long petioled, firm in texture, bright green above, glaucous beneath with reddish veins. A plant which has not yet flowered exists in the Kew collections brought from the Bolanical Garden, Orotava, Teneriffe, by the Assistant Director in 1893. 21. M. malaccensis, Ridley. Stems few, slender, 6 inches diameter, with purple-brown blotches. Leaves about 8 feet long, green with brown bars. Spike drooping, clothed with brown hairs; bracts lanceolate, sub-acute, brown, outside glaucous, inside striped with yellow. Female flowers 16 in a bract in a double row. Fruit sub-cylindrical, somewhat angular, 4 inches long, an inch wide; seeds black, angular ; “pisang karok” of the Malays. Distribution:—Common in the jungles of Malacca, Selangor, and Perak, occurring also in Pahang. “ M. zebrina (Flore des Serres, t. 1061, 1062) is doubtless,” according to Ridley, “a young plant either of this species or of M. swmatrana, Becc. I never saw,” he says, “any form of M. sapientum, L. (to which species Mr. Baker refers this) with barred leaves. The brown bars are very constant in young plants of VM. malaccensis and even persist sometimes in the adult foliage. This species may perhaps be the parent of some of the cultivated bananas here, but is very distinct from M. sapientum in the hairy rachis and other points . . . An attempt has been made to utilise the fibre. The plant is very abundant and springs up like a weed when old jungle is felled and forms an impenetrable thicket.” 22. M. flava, Ridley. Leaves 16 inches wide, green. Spike nodding, pubescent ; bracts widely ovate lanceolate, obtuse, 4 inches long, 15 inches wide, yellow. Female flowers 16 to a bract in two rows. Fruit, when dry, 2 inches long, five angled. Distribution :—Eastern a. of the Malay Peninsula, Pahang at Pulau Tijau on the Pahang iver. Nearly allied to M. malaccensis, but the broad, thick, blunt, bright yellow bracts give it a totally different appearance, the spike being quite blunt at the top. * Musa sp. Hongkong. No. 467, 1886. A plant of a Musa, native of Hongkong, supposed to be new, was received from Mr. Charles Ford, F.L.S., in 1886 and again in 1894. It is now growing at 22 Kew but it has not yet flowered. It has a slender stem and-rather small leaves. The flowers, judging by dried specimens, are those of J. sapientum. ' *23. M. sapientum, Linn. Sp. Plant. 1477; Trew, Ehret. t. 21-22. Stem cylindrical, usually green, reaching a height of 20-25 feet, 4-10 inches diameter, stoloniferous from the base. Leaves oblong, thin, bright green, 5--8 feet long, 14-2 feet broad, usually rounded at the base; petiole 1-14 feet long. Spike drooping, often 4-5 feet long; male flowers deciduous; bracts lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, dull violet, more or less glaucous outside, the lower 1-14 feet long, the upper 4 foot, often red inside, several expanded at once, the edges of the upper not involute. Flowers about a dozen to a cluster, yellowish- white, 15 inches long; calyx five-toothed at the top; petal ovate, half as long as the calyx. Fruit oblong-trigonous, 3-8 inches long, 15-2 inches diameter, forming three to nine bundles of about a dozen each, rounded to the apex, narrowed gradually to the sessile base, yellow or bright yellow or reddish when ripe, the flesh fit to eat without cooking. Common banana. Universally cultivated throughout the tropical zone of both hemispheres for the sake of its fruit. It also yields a fibre, which, however, is much inferior in tenacity to that of W. terilis. One of the original forms of this is probably the wild WM. sapientum mentioned by Roxburgh (Corom. Pt. t. 275) as grown from seed received from Chittagong. *Var. M. paradisiaca, Linn. Sp. Plant. 1477; Trew, Ehret. t. 18-20. Male flowers and bracts Jess deciduous. Fruit cylindrical, 4-1 foot long, generally yellow or yellowish green when ripe with firmer and less saccharine pulp, not fit to eat without cooking. Common plantain. Cultivated universally in the tropical zone. Var. M. troglodytarum, Linn.; M. uranoscopos, Rumph. Fruit small, crowded on the erect axis of the panicle, obovoid-oblong or nearly round, reddish-yellow, containing rudimentary seeds. Flesh sweet, yellow. Wild in India, Ceylon (Moon), and the Malay Isles, the favourite food of elephants. The above names have often been applied to forms of other species than sapientum, with a similar habit, such as MU. Fehi. Var. M. oleracea, Vieill. A flowerless form with a glaucous violet stem and an elongated thick turnip-like rhizome, which is boiled or roasted like a yam, which it resembles in taste. New Caledonia. Native name Povete. *Var. M. vittata, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t.5402; M. vittata, Ackerm, in Flore des Serres, t. 1510-1513. Leaves and long fruits copiously striped with white. Spathes bright red inside. Imported from the island of St. Thomas, West Africa. Other varieties to which Latin names have been givenare: J. violacea, Hort; M. sanguinea, Welw.; M. odorata, Lour.; (MZ. mensaria, Rumph) ; (M. regia, Rumph); *M. champa, Hort.; *M. martabanica, Hort. ; *M. dacca, Horan.; *M. rubra, Firminger, non Wallich. 23 ae ty + sepnems pea! aN ota : wee senenes OO —_ eames et oe : eae: Mee OEM, cat —ceounennnese sans aera sd e. ON ~ 6 rae PP Rte a i t}. at wu .tlith. *ch del Hook. f. t, 5402.) 2. Bract and hermaphrodite flowers. 8 ~ S ~ - a 5 § HS es Ae. ~~ ss Re JS QS She! os & DI =a 4, Transverse 3. Unripe fruit. section of same. 1. Plant in fruit reduced. 24 PLANTAIN AND BANANA. The sweet bananas by many authors are referred to Musa sapientum and the vegetable-like fruits or plantains to WZ. paradisiaca ‘There are, however, no characters that can be clearly defined as separating the two. Roxburgh, who paid particular attention to both the native and cultivated bananas and plantains of India, pronounces both to be varieties of one species found wild in the hilly districts of East Bengal, and which he calls M. sapientum. R. Brown (Tuckey’s Congo, App. 471) states “there is no circumstance in the structure of any of the states of the banana or plantain cultivated in India or the islands of equinoctial Asia to prevent their being all considered as merely varieties of one and the same species, namely, Musa sapientum ; that their reduction to a single species is even confirmed by the multitude of varieties that exist ; by nearly the whole of these varieties being destitute of seeds ; and by the existence of a plant indigenous to the continent of India producing perfect seeds ; from which, therefore, all of them may be supposed to have sprung.” Loureiro (Fl. Coch. 792) says the same thing; as does Desvaux (Journ. de Bot. (1814) Vol. IV. p. 5). Sir William Hooker (Bot. Mag. tab. 5402) states that the flowers of the bananas and plantains cultivated at Kew afford no character to distinguish them. As to question ot origin, A. de Candolle, following R. Brown, is of Opinion that all evidence hitherto available points to “a primitive existence in Asia, and to a diffusion contemporary with or: even anterior to that of the human race.” : Alphonse de Candolle (Cult. Plants, pp. 306-308) discusses the origin and distribution of the banana as follows :— “The antiquity and wild character of the banana in Asia are incon- testable facts. There are several Sanscrit names. The Greeks, Latins, and Arabs have mentioned it as a remarkable Indian fruit tree. Pliny speaks of it distinctly. He says that the Greeks of the expedition of Alexander saw it in India, and he quotes the name pala which still persists in Malabar. Sages reposed beneath its shade and ate of its fruit. Hence the botanical name Musa sapientum. Musa is from the Arabic mouz or mouwz, which we find as early as the thirteenth century in Ebu Baithar. The specific name paradisiaca comes from the ridiculous hypothesis which made the banana figure in the story of Eve and of Paradise.” Again, “there isan immense number of varieties of the banana in the south of Asia, both on the islands and on the continent; the cultivation of these varieties dates in India, in China, and in the Archipelago, from an epoch impossible to realise; it even spread formerly into the islands of the Pacific, and to the west coast of Africa ; lastly, the varieties bore distinct names in the most separate Asiatic languages, such as Chinese, Sanskrit, and Malay.” The probable introduction to eastern tropical America is thus summed up :— “The culture of the banana may be said to be recent in the greater part of America, for it dates but from little more than three centuries. Piso says positively that it was imported into Brazil, and has no Brazilian name. He does not say whence it came. According to Oviedo, the species was brought to San Domingo from the Canaries. This fact and the silence of Hernandez, generally so accurate about the 29 useful plants, wild or cultivated, in Mexico, convince me that at the time of the discovery of America the banana did not exist in the whole of the eastern part of the continent.” At the present time the plantain and banana are extensively cultivated in the tropics of the New World, and they have become as conspicuous a feature in the landscape as in the Old World, freely propagating by suckers and often found half wild in the forests. With regard to Polynesia, Seemann remarks (Flora Vitiensis, p. 288) that “a great many different kinds of Musa were found established in different parts of cultivated Polynesia, when Europeans first became familiar with them. In Tahiti alone, Banks and Solander saw 28.” Sagot states that the wild banana most allied to the cultivated, and from which, therefore, it may be presumed to have originated, has the same height and habit. The spike is pendent towards the earth; the fruits are smaller, more distant from one another, and contain several fertile seeds. It also produces offsets from its rootstock. It occurs in some of the forests of India, notably at Chittagong (Roxburgh, F/. Ind. i. 663), in Ceylon (Thwaites’ Hnum., p. 321), in Cochin China, Siam especially, in the small island of Pulo Ubi( Finlayson), in the Philippines (Rumph and Blanco). Sagot adds: ‘Il am unable to say if it is the same plant that is scattered over this vast area, or if there are several distinct species belonging respectively to the different countries.”’ In some countries, as in India, Ceylon, Mauritius, and Cochin China, bananas are cultivated with fruits containing several fertile seeds, which appear to belong to a wild form as yet slightly modified by cultivation. The BANANA or SWEET PLANTAIN (Musa sapientum, Linn.). This is the sweet fruit used without cooking, it has various names in different parts of the world. The old voyagers called it “ bonano.” In the time of Roxburgh the Hindu or Bengali name for the banana was “ kulla.” Usually amongst Europeans in India the word “ plantain” is used in a - general sense for both the banana and plantain. Latterly, however, even ‘in India, a distinction has been made in regard to the size and delicacy of the fruit, the small being the banana and the large the plantain. The Spaniards of tropical America call the banana “ bacove,” ‘ bacooba,” or ‘‘ pacooba,” while in other Spanish countries varieties of the banana are known as “cambur,” or “ camburi,” or ‘“‘platano guineo.” The English in the West Indies call the small and delicate bananas “ fig- bananas,” or simply “figs.” The French call the banana “ bananes des sages,’ or “figue banane.” In the Malay Archipelago, pisang, always translated “plantain,” is used for both bananas and plantains. The variety known as “pisang maas,” or the golden pisang, appears to come nearest to the banana as known elsewhere. One of the earliest accounts of the banana and plantain is given by Ligon in his History of Barbados, published in 1657. In this work there are two wood cuts, drawn, as the author states, ‘*by memory only,” showing the habits of the two plants and the fruit. Of the “ bonano” he says “it is of sweeter taste than the ‘ plantine,’ and for that reason ing negroes will not meddle with it, for it is not so useful a ood.’ Dampier’s description, published in his Voyages, some years later, is more exact :—- “The bonano tree is like the plantain for shape and bigness, nor easily distinguishable from it but by its fruit, which is a great deal smaller, and 26 not above half so long as a plantain, being also more mellow and soft, less luscious, yet of a more delicate taste. They use this for the making drink oftener than the plantains, and it is best when used for drink, or eaten as fruit ; but it is not so good for bread, nor doth it eat well at all when roasted or boiled, so ’tis only necessity that makes any use it this way.” Rochefort (Hist. Nat. des Isles Antilles, pp. 90-93, ed. 1658) refers to the banana as /a figue. He describes it as “only half the size of the plantain, and usually about 6 inches long. The tree bears 100 to 126 fruits, which are so closely packed that they press upon one another.” Lunan, in 1814, introduces a distinction first noticed by Ligon that the stem of the banana “has here and there some blackish spots.” He says :— “The banana tree so much resembles the plantain as hardly to be distinguished at first sight, but has its stem irregularly marked with black or dark purple spots, which the other has not. The bunches of fruit are more compact, and the fruit more numerous, shorter, and rounder than that of the plantain. The fruit has also a thinner skin, and the pulp is softer and of a more luscious agreeable taste when ripe, which may be eaten either raw, fried, or boiled, and makes excellent fritters. It is a delicate food when ripe and roasted with the skin on.” Grisebach, in the Flora of the British West India Islands, p. 599, describes the stem of the MW. sapientum as “ purple-spotted,” and the .fruit 5 to 6 inches long. Sir William Hooker, judging from plants grown at Kew, believed the leaves of the banana to be more rounded or cordate than those of the plantain. A further distinction often cited is the fact that the male flowers and bracts are deciduous in the banana leaving the spike beyond the fruit usually naked. In the plantain the male flowers and the bracts are persistent, and the spike beyond the fruit is clothed, not naked. The chief distinction, however, dwelt upon is the difference in the character of the fruit. This in the banana is always sweet when ripe, and it is fit to eat without cooking. Further, some sorts of banana are found to bear a cooler climate than the plantain. The PLANTAIN or COOKING BANANA (Musa sapientum var. paradis- iaca). This was recognised by Roxburgh under the Hindu and Bengali name of “katch kuila.” It is the “large or cooking plantain” of Europeans in India, the Spanish “platano arton,” the “ banane”’ of French Guiana and Surinam, according to Aublet; while Rochefort, already cited, speaks of it as “le bananier.” He adds, “It is 12 to 13 inches long and nearly as thick as the arm. The tree bears only 25 to 30 fruits on the raceme and these are rather laxly placed. They have a hard and dry flesh fit only for cooking or for being roasted in ashes.” It is the sort typically represented by the “ pisang tandok”’ of the Malays. Ligon in 1657 called it “plantine.” This shows the antiquity of the common name amongst the English. Plantain was evidently originally derived from the Spanish name “plantano,” altered by Joseph Acosta and subsequent writers into ‘“platano.” “ Plantain,” as remarked by Kurz, was an awkward introduc- tion into the English language, as it was already applied to the common Rib-grass, a species of Plantago. Kurz, it may be added, contrary to general practice, in the East discarded the word “ plantain ” altogether, - 27 and in his writings used the word “banana” exclusively, for the edible fruit of Musas. Grisebach describes the stem of the plantain as “green” and the fruits “ascending” (or curved upwards) “about a foot long.” This curving upwards is characteristic of the Horn plantain, but it is not distinctive enough to separate plantains and bananas in general. The prevailing habit of the leaves, according to Sir William Hooker, is that they are “much longer and narrowed into the petiole” than in the banana. The male flowers and the bracts are not so deciduous as in the banana, and the portion of the spike beyond the fruit is much shorter and usually covered with the remains of the bracts and dried up flowers. The individual fruits again are very distinct. They have a firmer and less saccharine pulp and are not fit to eat without cooking. In a “ Report on the Agricultural Work in the Botanical Gardens, British Guiana,” for the year 1890, pp. 59-60, Messrs. Harrison and Jenman state that only after a long and well-trained experience can the plantain be distinguished in the field from the banana when not in flower or fruit. “When in fruit, however, the case is different. There is then a character, observable at sight, which only requires to be pointed out for the merest novice in the subject to be able to tell which is which. This character is that, in the banana, after the fruit has set and begun to develop, the succeeding clusters of flowers, often a hundred or more in number, and their large embracing bracts are deciduous, 7.e., drop away, leaving a clear, absolutely naked, long extended and still elongating, stem or axis, hanging tail-like 2-3 feet beyond the fruit, with the firmly compacted mass of unopened bracts and flowers, bud-like at the end; while in the plantain the stem ceases to extend more than 12 or 18 inches beyond the fruit, the succeeding clusters of flowers and bracts all opening to the very end, and remaining persistent, withered and dry—the trash as it is called in colonial phraseology—being permanently attached to the stem. In the banana the axis continues to grow as long as the fruit hangs, cluster after cluster of flowers, with their bracts, opening and dropping away, a mass, like an enlarged Neluwmbium bud, still unopened, remaining at the far extended end when the bunch is cut; while in the plantain the growth of the axis is arrested soon after the fruit sets, the abortive flowers opening, and remaining attached, from end to end of the stem. “ A single exception to the rule obtains in the case of the dwarf or Chinese banana (Musa Cavendishii), in other respects also specifically distinct, in which, as in plantains, the abortive flowers and their bracts are constantly persistent. Remembering this exception, and guarded from chance of mistake thereby, the untrained observer, seeing growing plants in fruit, may confidently determine which are plantains and which bananas, without attempting to assay the qualities of the fruit, upon which the great economic distinction above noticed is based. As mentioned before in the remarks on bananas, the texture of the plantain is such that at whatever stage it is used, whether green or ripe, it must be cooked to make it palatable. It is this quality in the plantain which makes the great economic difference between the two fruits.” 28 _ MM. sapientum and M. paradisiaca were described by Linnzus from cultivated and seedless specimens. Gaertner, however, pointed out that the distinction between seedless and seed-bearing plants was valueless. The identification of the original wild forms of all the numerous varieties of bananas and plantains, now under cultivation, is probably impossible. Within certain well-defined areas, such as those of Ceylon, Eastern India, Burma, Siam, Cochin China, Indian Archipelago, and Polynesia, where the wild forms and the cultivated varieties are growing almost side by side, the work of cultivation is, and has been, carried on to a considerable extent. Allied, if not identical, with VW. sapientwm, the following seed-bearing forms have been described :—/. seminifera, Lour. Fl. Cochinch, 644 ; M. sapientum, Roxb. Corom. Pl. t. 275; M. sapientum and Troglody- tarum, Gaertn. Fruct. t. 11; M. balbisiana, Colla, Monogr. Musa, 96 (Rumph Aiboin., t. 60, fig. 3). The fruit is small, oblong, full of seeds, not eatable, yellowish or greenish. The Chittagong plant, figured by Roxburgh, grows in very soft soil, and has talllanky stems. Kurz distinguishes two species, VM. sapientum, with bracts often crimson inside, seeds turbinate-globular to polyhedrous, tubercled, not above 4 inch diameter, and M. sikkimensis, with dull purple bracts and seeds depressed and irregularly angled, tubercled, 4—5 lines diameter. Of the latter, we have careful sketches made on the spot by Sir J. D. Hooker and it has been widely distributed as Musa, No. 5 of Hooker and Thomson’s Indian plants. Pierre, in Sagot’s monograph, describes in detail three forms from Cochin China. Dr. King distinguishes four wild seminiferous forms in Sikkim as follows, viz. :— 1. pruinosa (“ Reling” of the Lepchas). Stem, 10-25 feet high. Leaves very glaucous beneath, bracts deep violet-purple, glaucous outside, red inside, persistent, subtending the fruit; fruit about 5 inches long by 1} inches diameter, permanently angled, seeds } inch diameter, pulp very scanty. Altitude, 1,500-3,500 feet. Seeds of this are in the Kew Museum, from Mr. J. 8. Gamble, - F.L.S. .2. dubia (“ Luxon” of the Lepchas). Stem lower, leaves not glaucous beneath, bracts deep lurid purple, not glaucous outside, purplish-red inside, lower bracts deciduous; fruit 3-4 inches long, 1-11 inch diameter, with prominent ribs, seeds 4-4 inch diameter, pulp more copious. Altitude, 1,500-5,500 feet. 3. Hookeri (“ Tiang-moo-foo-goon” of the Lepchas). Stem 10-14 feet high, tinged with red, leaves bright green on both sides, tinged with purple when young, bracts purple on both sides, glaucous outside, lower deciduous ; fruit 5-6 inches long, 2 inches diameter, prominently angled; seeds 4-5 lines diameter, pulp scanty. Common, between 4,500 and 5,500 feet. 4. Thomsoni (“Kergel” of the Lepchas). Stem green, 12-15 feet high, leaves glaucous only when young, conspicuously cuspidated at the apex, bracts ovate outside, with vertical streaks of yellow 29 and purplish-brown, yellow inside; fruit 24 inches long, #-inch diameter, faintly ribbed ; seeds few, black, soft, inch diameter, surrounded by copious sweet pulp. Does not rise above 1,500 feet. Dr. King thinks the two latter forms are likely to be distinct specifically from sapientum. His Hookeri is probably M. sikkimensis, Kurz. In the Kew Museum is a dried complete bunch of fruit marked ©. cliffortiana, which, no doubt, represents the wild seminiferous state of . M. sapientum. The fruits, densely crowded together in the spike are about 3 inches long, about 4 inch diameter, and completely filled with seed. This specimen was presented to Kew by the late D. Hanbury, F.R.S., in 1867. Sub-genus Rhodochlamys. Red-bracteated Musas. 24. M. maculata, Jacq. Stem slender, 7-8 feet high. Leaves green above glaucous beneath ; petiole § foot long. Bracts yellowish- brown ; flowers four in a cluster. Fruit oblong, 2-3 inches long, 1 inch diameter, narrowed gradually to the sessile base and apex, yellow, spotted with brown, eatable, aromatic ; flesh, white. Known only as cultivated in Mauritius and Bourbon, where it is called Figue mignonne. Differs from the other species of this suh-genus by its eatable fruit. *25. M. sumatrana, Beccari7. Whole plant 7-8 feet high. Stem stender. Leaves glaucous with irregular blotches of claret-brown. Rachis hairy. Dried fruit cylindrical, curved, 2-3 inches long, 4 inch diam. Distribution ;—Sumatra, province of Padang, alt. 1,100 feet, Beccari. Cultivated in India. Its affinity is with I. rosacea, Jacq. A sample of the fibre prepared from the stem of this species is in the Kew Museum from Mr. R. Derry, Malacca, 1889. 26. M. violascens, Ridley. Stem cylindrical slender, 8 to 10 feet high. Leaves glaucous beneath, 10 inches wide with a stout midrib. Spike erect or suberect, having bracts narrowly lanceolate, acute, white tinged with purple-violet or wholly violet, 9 inches long by 2 inches wide or wider. Female flowers 6 in a bract. Fruit green, 3 inches long, an inch thick, angular ; seeds } inch long, not angular. Distribution:—Malay Peninsula, Pahang, Selangor, and Sungei Ujong. This plant is distinguished by its erect or almost erect spadix, of which the bracts are remarkably long and narrow, acuminate and of a violet colour like that of a “brinjal.” The flowers are few and arranged in single rows in each bract ; sometimes the bracts are persistent after the flowers are fallen and hang down. The seeds are cylindrical and not angled and irregular as in the common banana and M&M. malaccensis. Although placed under the section Rhodochlamys the petal has the form of the section Hwmusa. *27. M. rosacea, Jacq. Bot. Reg. t. 706 ; Lodd. Bot. Cab. t. 616 M. ornata, Roxb. ; M. speciosa, Tenore ; M, Caroline, Sterler. Stoloni- 30 ferous. Stem cylindrical, 3-5 feet high, 3-4 inches diameter. Spike drooping or erect; bracts pale blue or reddish-lilac. Fruit oblong, 2-3 inches long, but little pulp, scarcely edible. Seeds 4 inch diameter, black, tubercled. Distribution :—Eastern Himalayas and hills of Concan. Flowered at Kew in 1881 and 1890. Introduced to Europe from Mauritius about 1805. 28. M. salaccensis, Zolling. Stem slender. Leaves thin, oblong, bracts pale lilac. Fruit oblong, full of seed ; latter dull brown, + inch diameter. Distribution :—Mountains of Java and Sumatra. Described from specimens in the Calcutta herbarium, dried by Kurz, from the Buitenzorg Garden. Cosely allied to M. rosacea. 29. M. velutina, Wendl. and Drude, in Regel. Gartenfl., 1875, 65, t. 823; M. dasycarpa, Kurz. Habit of WM. sanguinea. Bracts bright red, pubescent on the outside. Calyx pale yellow. Fruit velvety, bright red. Distribution :—Throughout the forests of Assam (Mann). Introduced to cultivation in 1875. Differs from sanguinea and aurantiaca by its red pubescent fruit, *30. M. coccinea, Andr. Bot. Rep. t. 47; Bot. Mag. t. 1559 ; North Gallery, No. 696. Stem stoloniferous, slender, finally 4-5 feet high. Rachis erect. Spike dense, erect; bracts bright red or tipped with yellow. Fruit oblong-trigonous, not edible. Seeds very small. Listribution :—Southern China and Cochin China. In the latter country it is called Chuoi tau. Introduced into cultivation in 1791 ‘and now widely spread. Specimens of fibre prepared from this species are in the Kew Museum from Jamaica, prepared by Nathaniel Wilson, and also from Mauritius. 31. M. rosea, Hort. Calcutt. Stem stoloniferous. Habit of MM. coccinea but leaves shorter and broader. Spike short, erect; rachis pubescent not flexuose; bracts pale red: Fruit and seeds not seen. Described from two specimens in the Calcutta herbarium that flowered in the Botanic Garden there in June 1882. *32. M. sanguinea, Hook. f. in Bot. Mag. t. 5975. Stem very slender, 4-5 feet high. Stoloniferous. Bracts bright red. Calyx bright yellow. Fruit oblong-trigonous, 2 inches long, rather pulpy, pale yellow-green variegated with red, glabrous. Seeds angled by pressure, small, black, tubercled. Distribution :—Upper Assam (District Lukhimpore) Mahuni forest, (Mann.). Introduced into cultivation in 1872. MU. assamica, Hort. Bull, is an allied plant, at present imperfectly known; it may prove to be _ distinct. Specimens of the fruits with seeds of I. sanguinea, ripened in the Palm House at Kew in 1872, are in the Museum. *33. M. rubra, Wall. Habit of M. coccinea. Bracts bright red. Fruit in 3-4 clusters of 3-4 each, cylindrical. Seeds smooth, dull brown, + inch diameter. Distribution :—Rangoon and Yomah, Pegu. Differs from MW. coccinea by its short petal. [Bot. Mag. t. 7451.] *34. M. Mannii, Wendl.; Bot. Mag. t. 7311. Stoloniferous. Stem cylindrical, slender, tinged with black, 2 feet high and with a girth of 35 inches at the base. Rachis with spike erect; bracts of female bl i f ovary. 10n O , Hook. f. Transverse sect nguinea (Botanical Magazine, t. 5975.) 1, Reduced figure of entire plant. 2. Head of flower of the natural size. 3. Hermaphrodite flower. 5 Musa sa 4, Perianth laid open. ith W Fitch. delet 1 32 flowers deciduous; male bracts crowded, oblong, pale crimson. Fruit small 3-4 inches long, fusiform with a very broad truncate apex. Distribution :—Assam. Described from a plant that flowered at Kew, Kew 1893. [Seedlings of this crossed with VM. rosacea, are now at ew. *35. M. aurantiaca, Mann. Herb. Habit of M. sanguinea, but forming large clumps of rather lower stems. Bracts bright orange yellow, glabrous. Calyx yellow. Fruit green, glabrous. Distribution :— Forests of Upper Assam. Differs mainly from M. sanguinea by its orange-coloured bracts. CunTIvATED VARIETIES. Some of the cultivated varieties of bananas and plantains known in different parts of the world have already been mentioned in connection with the species described in the preceding section. There are, how- ever, numerous varieties whose origin cannot, in every instance, be clearly traced. There is a good deal of confusion existing also as to what are varieties and what are mere forms. In fact, the information available in regard to cultivated bananas is in need of being thoroughly sifted and arranged. In the present state of our knowledge it is only possible to enumerate the various sorts under their vernacular names, and to add a few notes giving their special or most prominent characters. This may more conveniently be done under the principal geographical regions in which they are found. The principal autho- rities cited are the following :—Rumph, Herb. Amboinense, vol. v., pp. 125-137 ; Blanco, Flor. Filip., pp. 239-246 ; Firminger’s Manual of Gardening for India, ed. 3, pp. 179-181 ; Bojer’s Hortus Mauriti- anus, pp. 331-332; .Sagot in Journ. Soc. Hort. France (1887), pp. 238-285; Kurz in Journ. Agri.-Hort. Soc. India, n.s., vol. v., pp. 112-163; Diaz, Hl Agricultor Venezolano (1877), pp. 37-43 ; Harrison and Jenman, Report on Agriculiural Work, British Guiana, 1890, pp. 56-62. INDIA. “Tn such a large empire as India one might expect,” says Kurz, “to find the greatest variety of bananas, but such is not the case.” The Philippine Islands and the Indian Archipelago are richest, and, on the authority of Moon, Ceylon comes next. The varieties appear to decrease rapidly as we travel northward from the equator. Roxburgh states that he obtained in India only three varieties of the “ plantain ”’ and about 30 varieties of the “banana.” Rheede (1678-1703) appears to be the first authority that wrote intelligently on the bananas and plantains of India. He gives them the Malabar name of bala. In the first volume of his Hortus Malabaricus, pp. 17-20, he enumerates and illustrates several varieties : neudera bala with oblong red fruits ; caduli-bala with a thin skin and pulp of pleasant taste; pwam- bala with terete fruits with a good taste; mannem-bala with four- cornered fruits and a thick skin ; canim-bala producing no other flowers but fertile ones, has the fruits small and yellow when ripe; calem- bala has the fruits full of black seeds and a rather thick skin. In Madras a sort known as guindy is considered the best as a dessert fruit. It is round, small-sized, with a very thin rind, luscious, sweet, and of a most delicate flavour. ‘“ A good bunch may contain over a thousand fruits’ (Dict. Hcon. Products of India, vol. v., p. 293). This kind is used entirely as a table fruit, being considered too valuable 33 for cooking purposes. The rustali is, however, the sort generally sold as table plantains, though not of so good a quality as the former. A large plantain known in Tamil as monthen is one of the commonest cooking fruits of the Presidency. The poo-valay or flower plantain of Madras is described by Kurz as “ curious and rare.” In Bengal the table plantain is the best. This is grown entirely for the consumption of Kuropeans and well-to-do natives. The champa is the next best, and, like the preceding, is of finest quality during the rains. The term kauch [katch] kol/a is employed generically to embrace all field-cultivated plantains. These are hardly ever allowed to ripen, and are mostly used when unripe as a vegetable. The dacca plantain (described by Horaninow as M. dacca), although mentioned as one of the common Indian forms is dismissed by Kurz with the remark that, “although much cultivated in European hot- houses, it is little known out of them.’ The stem is pruinose; leaves paler-green than in M. sapientuwm, glaucous beneath; border of petiole red. Fruit 4 inches long by half as broad, remaining tightly on the branch ; its tip and stalk bright green ; skin very thick. If identical with the dhakkai mentioned by Liotard, and said to have a long fruit, with light pink soft flesh, it is found in abundance in India, but only in the east of Bengal. It may also be the daccde mentioned helow by Firminger. In the neighbourhood of Calcutta, Firminger (Gardening for India, pp. 179-181) mentions the principal varieties of plantains cultivated there as follows :— j Champa. Decidedly the finest of all the plantains, rivalling in lusciousness and delicacy the most delicious pear. The plant has a tinge of red on the stem, and the central rib of the leaf, both on the upper and lower side, is also red. The fruit is about 6 inches long, of a pale straw colour, and not fit to eat until it can be removed easily from the bunch. Cheenee champa. Similar to above, but the fruit much smaller, not much larger than a man’s thumb. It is borne in large, densely compact bunches. Martaban. A delicious fruit resembling the champa, and by some considered equal to it. The plant has no red midrib, but the rim near the base has a slight border of reddish brown. Dacede or daccde-martaban. Has a flavour surprisingly rich and luscious. The plant is recognised by “the large quantity of lime- like powder coating the stem and under-side of the leaves. The fruit is finches long, with a very thick rind.” [A specimen of the fresh fruit of M. dakka is in the Kew Museum from Mr. H. H. Calvert, grown at Alexandria, Egypt. It is very angular, and in section the placentas are strongly marked. ] Kuntéla. An inferior fruit, though the one cultivated most exten- sively of all, and sold in great quantities inthe bazaars. ‘“ The cause of the very great demand there exists for this particular kind among the natives is on account of its being employed in offerings to Seeva, it being the only sort, too, they think right to use for that purpose.” The plant has the leaves and footstalks of a pure rich green. It grows to a great height. Kutch kela. Fruit of large size, used only in its unripe state for curries. ‘ When boiled it has somewhat the flavour of the parsnip, and is a nice vegetable with roast meat.” [The model of a large fruit in the Kew Museum, labelled Musa kela, probably represents this variety. ] 23099 C 34 Mahl-bhég or mohun-bhég. Highly esteemed by some, but probably not much superior to the kuntéla. Ram kela. In good condition a remarkably fine fruit, much resem- bling in flavour and buttery consistency the daccde. The stem and footstalks and midribs are of a dark red colour, also the flowers. The fruit is about 7 inches long and rather thin. This Firminger names Musa rubra, now reduced as a variety of M. sapientum. On the other hand M. rubra of Wallich is a seed-bearing species allied to M. coccinea. Dwarf or Chinese Plantain [M. Cavendishii]. In Calcutta this is exceedingly difficult to obtain in perfection, as it is uneatable till quite ripe, and on its becoming ripe commences almost immediately to decay. Arracan plantain. Sent from Arracan by Captain Ripley, who observed, “If well manured the fruit of this tree is one of the best plantains there is; the old trees yield particularly fine fruit.” Besides the above, Captain Ripley sent to Calcutta eighteen other named sorts of plantains from Arracan, of eleven of which he wrote in high commen- dation. The moungbya has the skin “of a dead white and very thick.” Captain Ripley was acquainted with 19 kinds, described by him from Arracan in the Proceedings of the Agri.-Hort. Soc. India, x., pp. 50, 51. The hnet-pyau-meng (royal plantain) has fruits up to 15 inches in length and as large round as the fist. It is generally eaten roasted whole in the skin. Rakoing-hnet-pyau-bhee or Arracan plantain (Musa arakanensis, Ripley) mentioned above is also valuable for its fibre. Nothing further is known of this plant. Specimens of it are desirable for herbarium purposes. In the Punjab the kela, which may be a true plantain (M/. paradisiaca) is largely grown towards the east of the plains of this province. There are fewer varieties and the quality of the fruit is poorer in the Punjab than to the east and south. At Mussooree, in the North Western Pro- vinces, there are only three kinds of bananas cultivated. These are rai kela, bara kela, and chota kela. In Oudh the only plantain that flourishes is a large-fruited one called desee kela. A small sweet fruit called ymritban, probably a local corruption of Martaban, and the cheenee champa or red Bombay, are also grown, but neither thrives well. CEYLON. Moon, in his catalogue of Ceylon plants, gives only the Singhalese names and their English equivalents. His list of bananas (pp. 71-72) comprises as many as 47 kinds, thus rendering Ceylon richest in varieties, the Indian Archipelago alone excepted. Of Musa paradisiaca (“anawalu-kesel” of the Singhalese) Moon enumerates the following :—Wild, growing on the mountains : anawdlu- kesel aetamburu (seed), and anawélu-kesel-gal (rock). Cultivated : are names with the following English equivalents: sour, sooty, parrot, black, buffalo, champac, lion, and monkey. Of Musa sapientum (“kesel” of the Singhalese) there are wild, growing on the mountains: fesel ael (hill), kesel aeta (seed), kesel titta-kadali. (bitter), kesel wal-suwanda (wild-fragrant), and sesel wal-wanduru (wild-monkeys). Of the cultivated sorts belonging to this series Moon gives 25 under their Singhalese names and their equivalents. Amongst the latter are such names as water (kesel diya), black (kesel kalw), and others known as eared, fragrant, cornered, scented, golden, cracker, pingo, clustered, bitter, fool’s, powdered, &c. 35 Musa troglodytarum of Moon (“nawari kesel” of the Singhalese) is said to be wild in the mountains of Kandy, although not mentioned by subsequent writers. Of this there are said to be three cultivated sorts, nawari-kesel sudu (white), nawari-kesel kalu (black), and nawari-kesel tis (thirty). The wild plant is nawari-kesel aeta. Thwaites mentions only one wild species in Ceylon, his “ wal-kaikel gas” (Musa sapientum), and he adds this is the species from which have originated the numerous varieties of sweet plantains in the island. Kurz remarks: ‘ There seems to be something wrong in this statement, considering that Moon has eight wild kinds, of which one (his 1, troglodytarum) should have an erect spadix.” Sawers (Mem. Wern. Soc., iv., 403), refers to the wild species of plantain found in the mountains of Ceylon as follows :—“It was on the sides of these rugged hills that we first saw the plantain-tree in a state of nature. When uncultivated the fruit of this plant is com- paratively small. It contains a great many seeds and has but little pulpy matter.” INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. The Philippines and the Indian Archipelago are regarded as the richest regions in bananas. Blanco’s researches were chiefly confined to those of the Philippine islands. He divides them into two classes, the first containing thick-skinned bananas and the second thin-skinned bananas. He mentions that there were 57 varieties known in the islands, and he enumerates and names 18 of them. The most esteemed sort is saba-bisco, with a fruit 3 inches long by 1 thick, 3-5 angular. The lacatan has the fruits crowned with the persistent corolla. One of the most esteemed is a large one with a sweet pulp, called the bungulan. One variety, called by Blanco Musa paradisiaca ulnaris, is thus described :—“ Those that have seen and eaten the fruit say it is as thick as the human thigh and a yard long and bears seeds. If cooked it resembles in taste that of the tandok. The Negritoes say the raceme produces but one fruit.” Blanco is careful to add that he himself does not believe in the existence of such a fruit. In Lucon, Née observed 27 varieties of bananas, but he has not given their names nor any remarks upon them. Rumph appears to have known more about bananas than any one. He has given an accurate description of the plants, and he divided them into three groups, as follows :—(1) The cultivated or domesticated bananas ; (2) the Alphurian bananas, with leaves on the rachis; and (3) the wild bananas. His detailed descriptions of the varieties are very care- fully drawn up. Some of the kinds enumerated by him are as follows :— Pisang tando (horn-like). No doubt similar to the one called tanduk or iandok at the present time. If the cluster is reduced to a single fruit, the latter becomes exceptionally large. The whole bunch or spadix has usually only two or three clusters. Pisang gabba-gabba is smaller than the preceding, becoming white in ripening. It has the driest pith of all, which is like the spongy pith of the Sago palm, called “ cabba-gabba.” Pisang djernang (needle banana). The fruit is short, nearly trigonous and terminating in along snout, which is crowned with a thread-like appendage (the marcescent style), hence the name. The skin adheres to the reddish pulp, which glitters like sugar when transversely broken. It is said “to bear racemes 7 feet long with 17 clusters.” 23099 C 2 36 Pisang culit tabal (golden banana). The fruit is five-cornered, and has the thickest skin of all the bananas. Pisang medji. The dessert-banana (M. mensaria of Rumph), is “the best of all bananas.” The fruit is about 4-6 inches long; it ripens quickly, is yellowish, and the skin is easily removed. The pulp is soft, sweet, and deliciously scented, as if with rose-water. Always eaten raw. Pisang raja (to which Rumph gave the name of M. regia), is similar to the preceding in shape and quality. It is, however, much smaller, hardly the length of a finger and an inch thick, smooth with a thinner skin, and sweeter and more delicious, on which account it is the most prized as a dessert fruit in Batavia. lt is not cultivated at Amboyna, where it is replaced by the preceding kind. Probably nearly allied to the gingeli of Bourbon. Pisang swangi is short and thick. The pulp deep yellow or red. Cannot be eaten raw, but is good for roasting. Pisang abu, pisang soldado, and pisang alphuru are small, short and thick fruited sorts, rather flat and compressed. Very good for roasting and cooking. Pisang bombor has the shortest fruits, the size of a hen’s egg. Good for eating raw when fully ripe; otherwise it is sourish and acid, and must be boiled. Pisang cananya ketjil. This has the shortest stem and the smallest leaves, and is only about as high asaman. The fruits are round, the skin very thin, fragile, and can hardly be removed. The fruits grow so low that “they can be taken off with the mouth,” and they are often 200 on a bunch. The plant is only sparingly soboliferous. Pisang tonkat langit has an upright-fruited spadix (Musa troglody- tarum, Linn.). The fruits are small, plump, more thickened towards the upper end, of a red colour and black striped. The pulp is golden yellow. The few seeds are imbedded lengthwise, brown and flat. The “djantong,” or sterile flower cone, is much larger than in any other bananas, some- times a foot long, green and smooth. Pisang alphuru. The peduncle is peculiar in bearing leaves, “two of which are at the base and similar to those of the stem, but shorter and rounder. Then follow other leaves which are small and narrow, and from each of them rises a thick green stalk on which grow a few fruits, of which, however, only a few come to perfection.” As in other respects this resembles the common banana, it may be an abnormal form of it. Pisang utan (Musa sylvestris of Colla), is the larger kind of wild banana. One form (the Mindanao of Rumph) is Musa tezxtilis, Née, yielding Manila hemp. The other (Ambon variety of Rumph) is /. textilis, var. amboinensis. These have been already described in the previous section. From other sources we gather that bananas in Java are called pisang maas, or golden pisang, on account of the colour of the peel. There are so many varieties that they can scarcely be counted. The pisang sariboe is the smallest kind of pisang, as the pisang tandok is the largest. The pisang maas is quinquangular, and its taste resembles that of figs. Among the other sorts the most remarkable are pisang medji (dessert pisang), the pisang raja (royal), which is thought to be the most wholesome ; the pisang mera, or red pisang, whose leaves from their very base are of a brownish-red as well as their bunches of fruit, and the pisang batoe or bidgi (stone or seed pisang), which is not much eaten. There is yet another kind of Musa, the wild pisang, “whose 37 leaves on the outside are covered with a species of white wax” (van Nooten’s Java, 1863). Rigg, in his dictionary of the Sunda language, gives a list of about 40 names of plantains in Western Java. The word djauw is the Sunda for pisang or plantain. The most singular is the /wbang, or eel plantain, described by Kurz as “a very rare variety ; the fruit is said to ripen in the stem before it is protruded hence, likened to an eel ina hole.” In the sambatu the fruits grow together, as if glued into one mass. Marsden, in his history of Sumatra, mentions that there are 20 varieties cultivated in that island, of which pisang raja, pisang dinger and pisang kalé are the best. Of the bananas of Siam little is recorded. The fruit is there called tun-bloi or kloh-eh. Mason collected the names of 25 varieties in Burma. Specimens of fresh fruits of pisang maas, of pisang susu, and of pisang tandok, preserved in spirit, are in the Kew Museum, from Mr. H. N. Ridley, F.L.S., Singapore, 1894. Burbidge, in the Gardens of the Sun, pp. 321-2, reviews the different varieties of plantains and bananas that came under his observation in the East, as follows :— “Last on my list, but by no means least amongst the tropical fruits of Eastern gardens, comes the pisang or banana, which here, as elsewhere wherever it is cultivated, is represented by many varieties, which differ in size of fruit, flavour, and other particulars. One of the most common varieties met with in the bazaars is pisang maas, or golden banana, the individual fruits of which are small, but of a bright golden colour and of excellent flavour. One ofthe most esteemed of all is prsang raja, or king of bananas, a larger fruit, also of a deep golden colour, the flavour being very luscious. Pisang hijau, the green banana, is slender and angular, but the straw-coloured pulp is of a most exquisite flavour, and it is quite a favourite in Singapore, where the raja variety is comparatively scarce. Pisang kling is a pale yellow kind, bearing large smooth fruits, and for eating with cheese this is one of the best, being less sweet than those just named. A large horned variety of banana (generally used in a cooked state) is common in Borneo, called of the natives pisang tandok, the individual fruits being a foot long and two inches in diameter. The outer skin is green, changing to yellow when fully ripe, and this fruit is liked by those who do not relish the sweeter kinds.” POLYNESIA. There are numerous wild and seed-bearing bananas in the islands of Polynesia probably undescribed. Specimens of these, but not sufficient for determination, have been received at Kew from the Solomon Islands, from Mr. H. B. Guppy, and from Timor Laut from Mr. H. O. Forbes. Ellis mentions that in the Society Islands nearly 20 kinds of plantains (probably forms of M, Fehi), very large and serviceable, grow wild in the mountains. “These are rich and agreeable when baked, but most unpalatable when raw. They have a red skin and a bright yellow pulp. Their native name is fev.” The best banana in Tahiti is called hwamene. TROPICAL AFRICA. The clifferent varieties of bananas and plantains cultivated in tropical Africa have not been investigated. The native names quoted appear to stand simply for banana or plantain, and, exceptin one or two instances, 38 do not apply to the varieties. At Angola, Welwitsch met with a very ornamental variety of M. sapientum, which he named UM. sanguinea. In this the “leaves and fruit are strongly tinged with blood-red.” Another ornamental plant, also belonging to M. sapientum, and from West Africa, is M. vittata figured in Bot. Mag. t. 5402. This has the leaves and long fruits copiously striped with white. The bracts are bright red inside.” It was imported into this country in the first ‘eee from the Portuguese island of Sao Thomé, in the Gulf of uinea. Burton (Central Africa, p. 58) states that in the hilly countries around Uganda there are about a dozen varieties. . . . MThebestfruit is that grown by the Arabs at Unyanyembe. . . . Upon the Tanganyika Lake there is a variety called mikous ?hembu, or elephant’s- hands, which is considered larger than the Indian horse-plantain. The skin is of a brickdust-red, in places inclining to rusty-brown; the pulp is dull yellow with black seeds, and the flavour is harsh, strong, and drug-like. | Stanley (Darkest Africa, I. p. 252) refers to specimens of plan- tains found beyond Yambuya that were “22 inches long, 24 inches in diameter, and nearly 8 inches round, large enough to furnish even Saat Tato, the hunter, with his long-desired full meal.” Again, at Bokokoro, “some plantains measured here were 174 inches in length, and as thick as the forearm.” MAURITIUS and MADAGASCAR. Bojer (Hort. Maur., p. 331) mentions that in 1837 bananas and plantains were widely cultivated in Mauritius, Madagascar, Mozam- bique, and the Comoro Islands. | He enumerates 17 species and varieties cultivated at Mauritius, and gives both the Creole and Malagasy names as far as he knew them. There are two species specially mentioned producing seeds, and these he calls bananier a graines: (1) Musa sapientum, L. of the East Indies, grown near dwellings in various quarters of the island. It thrives also without cultivation on the sites of abandoned gardens and other localities in the hilly district of Flacq and the mountains of la Nouvelle Découverte ; and (2) Musa glauca, Roxb., grown under cul- tivation in many parts of the island, but said to flower very rarely. It is probable that the first of these is the true banana with seeds (bananier a graines), and therefore to be regarded as representing the wild form of VM. sapientwm. In a note just received from Mr. John Horne, F.L.S., late Director of Gardens and Forests at Mauritius, he writes :—“I know the bananier a graines, and I have raised it from seed. Every clump of this (wild in the mountains) is known to the Coolies and Creoles who readily eat the fruit, which must therefore be watched to obtain it in a perfectly ripe condition. The stems of this banana abound in fibre of excellent quality.” The fruits of Musa paradisiaca (of Bojer) are called Akundru lika- lika by the natives of Madagascar, while the French call them bDananes malgaches. Bojer enumerates the following kinds :— Akundru bara-baha of the Malgachees (bananes malgaches vertes) : fruits resembling those of akundru lika-lika, but they are shorter and more curved. Skin green, the pulp white, soft, and sweet. Akundru minetine ; fruit straight, cylindrical, green turning brown ; pulp whitish, very sweet. A variety of this has the fruits very like 39 those of the preceding, but they are only slightly curved, angular, the pulp whitish, of an exquisite taste and odour. Akundru-makai-fahai (bananes jawnes or bananes a régime court) : fruit medium size, straight, cylindrical, the skin and the pulp yellow, the latter firm and sweet. Akundru-bara-hassok (bananes malartic or bananes rouges) : fruit straight, cylindrical, sometimes slightly cornered, the skin thin and of a red colour when ripe, the pulp yellow-reddish, of a very sweet taste and odour. Bananes malartic vertes of the French. Fruits exactly like those of the preceding, but they remain green also when fully ripe. Bananes gigantesques de Chine. Fruit very large, oblong, slightly curved and angular, the skin yellow and very thick, the pulp yellow- reddish, somewhat firm, of a little acid taste. Akundru-lambu of the Malgachees (bananes de Chine or bananier nain): stem very short and very stout, the leaves oval, larger and firmer than those of the other kinds. The raceme often attains such an enor- mous size that one man cannot carry it. Fruits yellow or green, slightly curved and cornered ; pulp yellowish, of an exquisite taste and odour. Akundru-zaza (child’s banana) of the Malgachees (bananes gingeli of the French): fruit very small, straight, cylindrical, the skin thin, yellow; pulp yellow, very sweet and of an agreeable odour. This kind is most esteemed. Bananas @ Otahiti: fruit somewhat larger than that of the pre- ceding, somewhat curved and angular, the skin yellow or green and very thick ; pulp yellowish and of an agreeable taste. Akundru-foutsi of the Malgachees (bananes blanches): fruits middling sized, straight, cylindrical, the skin and pulp white, the latter of a mediocre taste. The banana mentioned above as the Chinese or dwarf banana (¥. Cavendishit) is a distinct species. This was introduced to England by way of Mauritius in 1827, and first grown in this country by Mr. Barclay at Buryhill. It was afterwards distributed from England, as already mentioned, to the Islands of Polynesia. There is a sample of fibre in the Kew Museum from the Botanic Garden, Mauritius, sent by Mr. John Horne, F.L.S., 1870, marked 1. violacea. 'This is probably a garden variety of WZ. acuminata (see p. 245), with the stem, fruit, and often the leaves beneath, more or less tinged with violet or purple. Although it is pretty well established that the New World received its plantains and bananas originally from the Old World it is evident that there are now numerous Varieties established there. Some of these can be recognised as similar, if not identical, with well-known varieties in the East Indies. On the other hand, some have doubtless developed under new conditions of soil and climate and under the incidental varia- tion induced by change of environment and results of cultivation. The local names are very loosely applied. The Spanish names for the most part are limited to three kinds, The true platano arton is the plantain used as vegetable, while the camburi and dominico are varieties of the banana with a sweet fruit, and eaten raw. The dwarf or Chinese banana (M. Cavendishii) has become very common of late years. This was doubtless introduced direct from Mauritius (where we have a first record of it after Cochin China) or by way of England. With the exception of the latter it is probable that the edible-fruited banana and plantains of the New World are all forms of M. sapientwm. The 40 herbarium material available at Kew does not contradict this assumption, but it must be admitted that no one has given particular attention to the subject or collected adequate material upon which to base an authoritative opinion. Martinet enumerates the three bananas cultivated in Peru in the neighbourhood of Lima (Jard. Bot. Lima, 1873, p. 51), as follows :— platano guineo, platano lugo, and platano de la isla. Humboldt states that a Peruvian banana called meija is known in the market of Lima as platano de Taiti, being supposed to be introduced from Tahiti. BRITISH GUIANA. Messrs. Harrison and Jenman, in their Report already cited, state :— There are two varieties of plantains chiefly cultivated in British Guiana, namely, the White plantain (called also the Cow plantain, Common plantain, or Maiden plantain), and the Black plantain. The others are the Giant or Horse plantain and the barooma. Both of the latter are very large fruited kinds. The bavooma is not much grown. The White plantain with a green stem and green leaf-stalks is the kind chiefly grown. It is prolific and very valuable, as the fruit is of the best quality and adapted for all purposes for which plantains are used. The Black plantain is exactly similar to the White plantain in character, but the leaf-stalks and sheaths of the leaves (7.¢., the stem) are purple or blackish. For the banana the local name is lacooba,a term of Indian origin (evidently borrowed from its resemblance to the Heliconia, a native plant common in tropical America), but now generally adopted by the Creoles. Bananas are not largely grown in British Guiana, the quantity produced is, however, fully sufficient to meet local demands. There is no separate cultivation as for plantains, and they appear to hold quite a secondary place in the domestic regime of the colony. Plantains are regarded as an essential article of food, while the bananas are an added luxury, and they can be dispensed with or not according to the circumstances of the moment. The most abundant banana in the market at Georgetown, as a rule, is the dwarf or Chinese banana, and next to that the large and small fig bananas. The latter are favourites with the well-to-do people. The varieties grown in the colony are as follows :-— Small Fig or Lady’s Finger: fruit densely packed, clear straw colour when ripe, 3 to 4 inches long, pulp melting, flavour good. Large Fig or Cokerite: fruit curved as a rule, 4 to 5 inches long ; good bunches contain 300 to 400 fruits ; strongly recommended for export purposes. Martinique or Jamaica: fruit greenish yellow, 8 to 10 inches long, of sweet flavour with a slightly astringent after-taste. Surinam or sour: fruit slightly curved, 6 to 8 inches long, clear straw colour when ripe, texture of pulp rather woolly when broken, the centre harder, of a distinct sub-acid taste. Giant green or Canaan: fruit stout, densely arranged, 6 to 7 inches long, colour a beautiful yellow when cipe. Giant red: fruit stout, dull red, 5 to 7 inches long, flavour good. Both this and the last are too stout for ordinary dessert purposes. Arrababa or apple: fruit of soft texture and slightly sub-acid, 7 te 8 inches long, skin very thick, pale yellow when ripe. “A peculiar 41 kind in all characters of the fruit; the shape, thickness of the skin, texture, and taste are all unusual. It is not of much use for eating raw like other bananas, but cooked it is the best of all.” Chinese or dwarf: fruit curved, 7 to 9 inches long, greenish yellow ; produces the heaviest bunches of all, often exceeding 80 pounds and containing 200 fruits. ‘Sometimes the bunches appear nearly as long as the stem of the plant bearing them.” VENEZUELA. An account of the principal varieties of banana recognised in Venezuela is given by Diaz in Hl Agricultor Venezolano (1877), pp. 37-43. El platano or platano arton is the common plantain widely distri- buted throughout tropical America. Platano dominico, the royal or small-fruited plantain, is very similar to the common plantain in appearance and habit; the fruit, however, is smaller and the plant somewhat hardier, that is, it bears better the cold of the mountains. Platano topocho or the topocho plantain. Diaz regards this, to which he has given the name of Musa mixta,asa hybrid between the common plantain and the red banana. It approaches the former in the character and flavour of the fruit; the latter in its robustness, habit, and power of resistance to dry weather. On account of the latter quality the topocho and red banana are preferred as shade plants on coffee lands on the hills. The fruit of the topocho when ripe is readily eaten by man and animals. “It is a special favourite of hens, ducks, turkeys, and all the feathered family.” Cambur morado, or the red banana, differs from the preceding in the colour of the stem and fruit. The fruit of this red banana is specially suitable for preserving by being dried in the sun. Cambur criollo or the Creole banana. The plant is smaller than either of the above, the stem is stained with blotches and black streaks, the fruit is small and very palatable to eat with dessert. In a green state it is most suitable as an addition to the Spanish olla or stew. Cambur manzano or the apple banana. The stem and leaves are tinged with red ; the fruit is as small as the Creole banana. It has a very delicate flavour and it is the most highly esteemed of any. Cambur pigmeo or dwarf banana. This hardly attains a height of 5 feet (probably the Chinese banana, WM. Cavendishii). The bunch of fruits is so large that it sometimes touches the ground. The fruit is slightly larger than the Creole banana, but with a similar flavour. Fresh fruits preserved in spirit of two kinds of plantains and bananas from Venezuela are in the Kew Museum. These were originally sent to the International Exhibition of 1865, and presented by the Republic of Venezuela. The first is marked platano dominico, *‘‘ bannanier royal” or Royal plantain; the fruit is about 8 to 10 inches long, 2 inches diameter, rather prominently ribbed, almost quadrangular, much curved, with the point produced but blunt. The other is named camburi guineo, “ figues bananes de Guinie” or fig banana. The fruit is 6 to eight inches long, 1} inches diameter, slightly angular and almost terete, moderately curved, rounded at the top and crowned by the 42 withered parts of the flowers. This appears to approach very a the Martinique or Jamaica banana in size and colour. WEST INDIES. The varieties cultivated in the West Indies for export purposes ee described by Dr. Nicholls, F.L.S., in ZYvropical Agriculture, p. 160. “There are a great number of varieties of the banana, as might be expected when it is remembered that the plant is cultivated throughout the whole tropical world—on different soils, in different climates, and under different conditions. The kinds most liked, however, in the American markets are the Martinique variety, with its large yellow fruits, and the Cuban variety which has shorter and thicker fruits with a dull-red skin. The Martinique kind is now the principal one exported, and it is known throughout the United States as the ‘ Jamaica banana.’ In Dominica it is called ‘figue la rose,’‘and in Trinidad ‘Gros Michel’ banana.” Of plantains, as distinct from bananas, there appear to be in the West Indies two principal sorts, the “ horse plantain ” and the “ maiden plantain.” The distinction between the two is given below. Acosta, quoted by De Candolle (Cult. Plants, p. 309), says that in Hispaniola or San Domingo “there is a small white species of banana, very delicate, which is called in Espagnolle ‘ dominico.’ ” The cooking plantains cultivated in Jamaica are described by Lunan, p. 74, as follows :— “There is a variety known by the name of maiden plantain, the common kind being called horse plantain, which differs from it in being of a smaller and more delicate growth, and having red streaks on the stem ; as also in smaller but much more clustered and numerous fruit ; the maiden plantain bunch growing more like that of the banana, containing often from 80 to 100 plantains, and weighing often 80 pounds, whereas the bunch of the common plantain seldom contains more than 20. These trees bear fruit fit for use in from 9 to 12 months after the suckers are planted, according to soil and seasons ; the horse plantain takes three months to fill from the time it first shoots, and the maiden plantain four ; the latter is the most delicate food.” Dr. de Verteuil describes the plantains of Trinidad briefly thus :— “Like all cultivated plants, the plantain has many varieties: there exist, however, three distinct sorts. The horn plantain, from the resemblance the fruit bears to the horn of a young bull; the Mvench plantain and the Dominica plantain. The horn plantain is more extensively cultivated than the other sorts, being hardier and not requiring frequent replanting; but though the fruit is much larger, whence it also obtains the sobriquet of horse plantain, its bunch is not so well supplied, having ordinarily but 25, and often fewer, plantains or fingers to the bunch ; as an edible it is also much coarser than the other species. French or maid plantain: the body of this plant is of a dark violet colour, as also the nerves of the leaves; the fruit is smaller than that of the former, but the bunch is supplied with a much greater number of plantain-fingers, averaging about 60 and 80, but sometimes from 100 to 130. This species is regarded as more delicate than the others, particularly when ripe. Dominica plantain: this is a variety of the latter: though the body is exactly like that of the horn plantain, the bunch, however, resembles that of the French, but the fruit is somewhat shorter and plumper.” 43 CuLTIvATION, The fruit-bearing Musas, require a moist and uniform heat. They do not necessarily require an abundance of light, as many will grow in the shade of trees. They require, however, a deep rich soil and newly cleared forest land, containing plenty of vegetable mould. Outside the torrid zone the plants are chiefly ornamental, as they cannot be depended upon to produce fruit in anything like the pro- fusion they do in the tropics. In cool countries also bananas do not grow continuously as in the tropics, but they have a resting period during the winter when the leaves cease to develop, or even partially wither. They break forth, however, on the return of warm weather. In such a case the life of the plant extends over a longer period, and stems, which usually last only a year, may live for two or three, or until fruit is produced. In many countries, even in the tropics, where the plants are liable to injury from hurricanes, their cultivation is either wholly abandoned, or only dwarf sorts are grown, like the Chinese bananas, under shelter of houses or walls. In spite of the usually luxuriant growth of bananas and plantains, they yield very poor crops in land that has long been under cultivation, and where the humus is exhausted, even though the soil remains productive for other plants, such as sugar-cane, cassava, maize, millet, and sorghum. In very sandy soils the banana may flower, but it produces no fruit. Abundani, but not stagnant, moisture in the soil is necessary, and the finest plants are generally seen on the banks, and in the neighbourhood of streams. Kurz states that “ transplantation of the shoots improves the quality of the fruit.” This may mean either that the shoots should be severed from the parent stem and planted singly, or that it is an advantage to exchange shoots from one district to another. It has been proved in the West Indies that bananas grow most luxuriantly in warm, moist valleys, shut in amongst the mountains. There they succeed better even than in the open plains, probably on account of the shelter they obtain and the moister climate. They grow on mountain slopes up to elevations of 3,000 to 4,000 feet, but they begin to lose some of their vigour long before they reach the latter elevation. The growth is slower, and the bunches are not so large nor so abundant. A mean annual temperature of 75° to 80° Fahr. appears to suit them best ; although Dr. Ernst states that he has seen a plant of Musa sapientwm laden with full, ripe fruit, near Caracas, at a height of 5,175 feet, with a mean annual temperature of 66°2° Fahr. Lieutenant Parish found two or three banana plants cultivated in an enclosure at an elevation of 3,400 feet on the Chumba range in the Himalayas. Considering the latitude this is probably the highest limit of cultivation in Northern India. Further south, in the Nilgiris, Kurz says a small wild banana grows on grassy plateaux at an elevation of 7,000 feet. There are seeds in the Kew Museum of a wild Musa from the elevated plateau of the Wynaad which may be allied to this. Firminger records that plantains were growing at Firozpur in 31° N. lat., “ but there is little probability of obtaining good fruit from them so far north, as the frost cuts down the plants in the cold season, and they only recover themselves, so as to begin to bear fruit, when the cold season comes round again, and they are unable to mature it.”’ _ At the same latitude, however, in the insular climate of Bermuda, in the North Atlantic, Jones mentions both the plantain and banana 44 amongst the cultivated fruits of the Islands. He adds, “there is also a dwarf variety,” possibly the Chinese banana (Musa Cavendishit). In Borneo, Burbidge says :— “That most generous of all food-giving plants, the banana, is every- where naturalised in Borneo up to an altitude of 3,000 ft. It fruits all the ‘year, *' preserved bananas :— “The banana end engaged the careful attention of several of the leading grocers in Chicago and elsewhere. One large house in Chicago, Sprague, Warner, & Co., after testing samples of this meal was so pleased with the result that it offered to undertake to introduce it as a food for infants and invalids, provided the producers would guarantee to supply the necessary amount to. advertise it extensively throughout the United States. Messrs. Sprague, Warner, & Co. estimated that a sum of 85 not less than $25,000 would be necessary to launch this new product on the American market, and unless this sum were forthcoming, they did not see their way to dealing with it on the ground that no sales in any quantity could be expected. This proposal was in due course submitted to the exhibitors, whose meal had been experimented upon; but un- fortunately those gentlemen were unable at the time to adopt the course proposed, and the matter is still in abeyance. I am strongly of opinion that with a judicious outlay of capital, and with a reasonable certainty that no sudden changes will be made in tariff regulations, there isa market open for banana meal in the United States. ‘7 have seen ripe bananas offered for sale in the streets of Chicago, at almost the same price as they are in Kingston, though of course the quality is distinctly inferior.” TRINIDAD. The following account of the preparation of plantain meal at the convict farm, Trinidad, by Mr. C. W. Meaden is quoted in the Bulletin of the Botanical Department, Jamaica, xxvi., p.5. The meal was pre- pared from a plantain known in Trinidad as the “ Moko.” ‘This is usually grown as a shade for young cacao trees. It appears, otherwise, to have little value. Mr. Hart refers to it in his report for the year 1887, p. 18, as “the useless Moko or Jumbi plantain or Fig.” It is some- what remarkable that the meal prepared from this despised but very widely distributed plant should prove of so good a quality. “No banana gives such an excellent meal as the ‘ Moko,’ or so agree- able in flavour and taste. The preparation of the meal is as follows :— The green Moko was skinned, sliced thin, and dried in the fruit drier ; then ground fine in an ordinary corn mill, and afterwards sifted through a muslin sieve ; this latter removes any fibre, and leaves a delicate fine meal. The slices dry in two hours. A 151b. bunch will yield 3 lbs. of prepared meal, which at 6d. per pound is ls. 6d. per bunch. Two women could prepare 56 lbs. of meal per day. The cost of production, packing, &c., has to be considered, but the price estimated to be obtained in this way for the fruit must be considered a satisfactory one; at least it is better than that now obtained, which may be said to be nil.” In a letter to the Port of Spain Gazette, dated 21st October, 1892, Mr. Meaden gives the following further particulars :— “Tt is proved by analysis that bananas contain 76 per cent. of starch, and it is certain that an article containing this quantity must have a profitable market value. Sliced bananas at a temperature of 130 per cent. dry in two hours and could be packed for shipment from the green bunch well within the day’s work. A drying apparatus for this purpose can be most cheaply and effectually built by a local workman, and it would also be useful on the estate for all drying purposes.”’ DUTCH GUIANA OR SURINAM. From information communicated to Kew by Mr. Louis Asser, of the Hague, Holland, the preparation of dried bananas and of banana and plantain meal is proposed to be taken up on a large scale in Dutch Guiana. Already various preparations from this part of the world have been shown at the International Exhibition held at Brussels by an association called the “Stanley Syndicate.” Preference appears to Le given in this case to the banana on account of its lesser value locally, and 86 because it is believed in Surinam to be a stronger plant “ and less liable to be injured by rain and storms which are particularly severe on the plantain.” The meal was obtained by slicing the fruit by machinery into thin pieces and drying them ina frnit-drying apparatus. The dried slices were then ground into a meal in a mill and carefully sifted. The analyses of various meals made in Surinam show that the meal prepared from both plantain and banana has almost the same composition. A set of preparations has been forwarded to Kew by Mr. Asser, consisting of the following articles. The list is given in full as it shows the numerous commercial uses to which the fruits of the plantain and banana may be put :— (L) Dried slices of the entire fruit (pulp and peel) in the starchy state suitable for the preparation of alcohol or for making into a nourishing bread ; (2) meal in a starchy state from the pulp only for making into a superior kind of bread or porridge; (3) flakes and meal in a dextrinous state for use in breweries or for making into nourishing soups, puddings, &c. These flakes are of a rich brown colour, and retain the banana flavour. Another preparation, very similar but sweet, is intended for making into wholesome confections, cakes, biscuits, &c.; (5) dried peel and coarse meal prepared from it intended as a feeding material for cattle and pigs; (6) banana marmalade; (7) dried bananas entire and without peel put up like dried figs in boxes; (8) raw alcohol prepared from fresh bananas and also from dried banana meal; (9) sugary syrup of bananas “of agreeable odour and flavour,” suitable for confectionery purposes, for preparation of liqueurs and for sweetening champagne; (10) banana meal for the manufacture of glucose and a sample of syrup and sugar prepared from it; (12) fibre of banana and plantain prepared from the discarded stems after fruiting, and intended for the manufacture of paper and cordage. The use of banana meal in the preparation of alcohol is no doubt borrowed from the example at St. Michael’s in the Azores, where since the failure of the orange cultivation sweet potatoes are largely grown, cut into thin slices, ground into meal, and then converted into alcohol. During the year 1884 there was exported from the Azores alcohol of the value of 40,588/., made entirely in this manner from the sweet potato. It is estimated by Mr. Asser that the cost of banana cultivation in Surinam will be at the rate of 2/. 10s. for every ton of meal. The cost of gathering the crop and making the meal will be at the rate of 18s. to 20s. per ton; while the cost of freight to Europe will be about 25s. per ton. The estimated net cost of delivery of banana meal in HKurope is therefore placed at 41. 15s. per ton. Considering the market value of the banana meal to be at the same rate as Indian wheat, viz., from ol. 10s. to 62. 10s. per ton, Mr. Asser claims there would be a margin of profit on banana meal equal to about 15 per cent. on the capital invested. — 1. = =. ™ eae — = INDEX. Banana or sweet plantain, 25. Bananas, 25. — and Plantains contrasted, 24. —, cultivated varieties, 32, 42. — — at Kew, 12, 52. — — at Sion House, 53. —, cultivation, 43. —-, — in England, 51. —., diseases, 53. —, dye and tan from, 60. —, economic uses, 56. —, fibre of, 61. —, fleshy-fruited, 3. —, giant, 3. —, red-bracteated, 29. —, swollen-stemmed, 12. —, true, 29. — in Australasia, 44. — — British Guiana, 27, 40, 50, 34, 72, 79, 83. — — British Honduras, 48. — — — New Guinea, 45. — — Canary Islands, 67. -— — Central America, 57. — -— Ceylon, 34, 45. — — Fiji, 45, 53, 58. — — Guatemala, 70. — — India, 32, 60. — — Indian Archipelago, 35. — — Java, Gy § — — Mauritius and Madagascar, | 38. — — New Caledonia, 22, 59. — — Nicaragua, 50. — — Pern, 40. — — Philippine Islands, 35, 61. — — Polynesia, 37, 45. — — Queensland, 53. — — St. Helena, 47. — — Singapore, i7. -- — South-East Africa, 56. | —- — Surinam, 78, 82, 85. — — Tahiti, 18, 58. | Bananas in Trinidad, 42, 48, 55, 74, 76, 85. igs — Tropical Africa, 37, 46, 58, og, 16, | — — United States, 83. — — Venezuela, 41, 50. _ — — West Indies, 42, 47, 57. _—, meal from, 76. —, ornamental, 3. -—, preserved, 71. —, trade in, 67 —, wine from, 66. Musa acuminata, 17. — aurantiaca, 32. — Banksii, 18. — Basjoo, 20. — Buchanani, 13. — Cavendishii, 16, 27, 68. — cliffortiana, 29. —- coccinea, 30. — corniculata, 18. — discolor, 20. — dubia, 28. — Ensete, 9, 12, 59, 65. — Fehi, 18, 19, 61. _ — Fitzalani, 19. | —- flava, 21. — glauca, 17. | — Hillii, 18, — — Jamaica, 42, 47, 69, 74, 82, | 84 — Hookeri, 28. —, Key to the Sub-genera and species of, 10. — lasiocarpa, 15. | — livingstoniana, 13. | — maculata, 29. | — malaccensis, 21. | — Mannii, 30. | — Martini, 21. | — nana, 16. — nepalensis, 15. — proboscidea, 13. — pruinosa, 28. — rosacea, 29. — rosea, 30. _ — rubra, 30, 88 Musa sanguinea, 30, 31. Musa Thomsoni, 28. — sapientum, 22. — textilis, 20, 62. — —, var. oleracea, 22. — —, var. amboinensis, 20. — — — paradisiaca, 4, 22. — velutina, 30. — — — Troglodytarum, 22. | — ventricosa, 13. ———— wittata, oe, 20s | — violascens, 29. — gsalaccensis, 30. _ Plantain and banana fibre, 61. — sikkimensis, 29. _— meal, 76. — sp. Hong Kong, 21. — or cooking banana, 26. — sumatrana, 29. '— diseases of, 53. — superba, 14, 60.