262 M. COllBEA BE MELLO ON SOME ERAZILIAN PLANTS. 



commonly by the name of Jiqiiitihdy is remarkable for its gi- 

 gantic proportions. 



The Scitaminea) (Cannacea), Agardh^ Zingiberacese, Z. C Bich.y' 

 and Musacese, Agardli) have but few representatives. Of the 

 Cannacese, I know of three species of Canna^ one with flowers of 

 a deep scarlet, which is cultivated in our gardens, and which 

 appears to me to be the C. Warszewiczii, Dietr., from Costarica. 

 The two others are the Miiru and the Alhard or Herva dos fe- 

 redos of Marcgrav and Piso, known also by the names of Im- 

 heriy Beriy and Beynij of which the first, according to Martins (Syst. 

 Mat. Med. Bras. 105), is the C. auraniiaca, Eose, and the other 

 (7. glaiica^ Linn. Besides these, some species of the genera P//ry- 

 nium and Maranta occur in our woods. In our gardens a Ma- 

 ranta, probably imported, whose flowers I have not yet seen, is 

 cultivated for the tuberiform rhizomes, from which is extracted 

 a flour, the a7'areite or arrowroot. Of Ziugiberacea) several im- 

 ported species are cultivated ; among spontaneous ones there is 

 an Alpinia^ probably A. aromatica^ Jacq., which, according to 

 Martins, is identical with the A. racemosa, Veil. Fl. Plum. i. 

 t. 3, known commonly by the name of Pacovd or PacoM ; the 

 root and the seeds are aromatic ; and although their aroma is not 

 so agreeable as that of Elettaria cardamomum^ Mart., they may 

 M-ell be substituted for it in medicine. The Costits P/^(mz>, Lindl. 

 (C. arahicus, Veil. Fl. Flum. i. t. 5), commonly called Faco 

 caalinf/a, Canna do mato^ Perina (Marcgr. and Piso), is now 

 better known under the names of Canna de Macaco and Canna do 

 Irejo, and is common under the shades of the moist virgin forests 

 of the neighbourhood of this town. Of Musacese and the genus 

 Musa^ besides the M. paradisiacal Linn., Jf. sapientmiiy Linn., 

 and M, sinensis^ Sw., and their divers varieties, which are here 

 cultivated, I have seen a Musa growing in the woods near the 

 town of San Paolo. This Mtisa has considerable analogy to 

 the M. coccinea,WiM. (Walp. Ann. vi. 38), from which it differs 

 in the shape of the teeth of the anterior lip of the perianth, 

 of which the three anterior ones are smaller, rounded, and united 

 with each other higher up, the two lateral ones broader and 

 ovate-triangular, the posterior lip linear, of an equal breadth 

 through its whole length, suddenly attenuated at the top, and 

 the margins of both lips thinly membranous and entire, whilst m 

 JT. coccinca the lobes of the posterior lip, as well as the anterior 

 lip, are dittercntly shaped. The falyc stem of tlic San- Paolo species 



