Tas. 7401, 
MUSA HILLII, F. Muell. 
Native of Queensland. 
Nat. Ord. Sctraminea%.—Tribe Muszea. 
Genus Musa, Linn. ; (Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 655.) 
Musa (Eumusa) Hillii; caudice elato robusto stolonifero, foliis longiuscule 
petiolatis lineari-oblongis patulis basi cuneatis, spica valida erecta densi- 
flora, bracteis ovatis cymbiformibus | flavo-viridibus apicibus obtusis 
brunneis, fl. masc. perplurimis 2-pollicaribus, calycis leviter curvi dentibus 
brevibus obtusis lateralibus majoribus appendice fusiformi ruguloso in- 
structis, corolla lineari-oblonga subacuta, A. fem. ovario ovoidei 3-gono 
perianthio masculo breviore, stigmate majusculo trilobo, baccis densissime 
confertis ovoideis 3-gonis truncatis, seminibus perplurimis parvis angulo- 
sis valde depressis. 
M., Hillii, F. Muell. Fragment. vol. ix. p. 169. Baker in Ann. Bot. vol. vii. 
p. 217 in Gard. Chron, 1893, ii. p. 743, in Kew Bulletin, 1894, pp. 239, 246. 
Four species of Plantain are now known to inhabit 
tropical Australia, all of them endemic, namely, M. Banksii, 
F, Muell. Fragm. vol. iv. p, 182 (M. Banksiana, Kurz in 
Journ. Agr. Hort. Soc. Ind. N.S. vol. v. (1878), p. 164); 
M. Fitzalani, F. Muell. 1.c. vol. ix. p. 188; M. Charlioi, 
W. Hill, Rep. Brisbane Bot. Gard. 1874 (undescribed), 
and that here figured. Whether any of these are identical 
with described species from the Malay or the Pacific Islands 
is not determinable until these are better known; and as it 
is only by comparison under cultivation, or by very care- 
fully executed drawings that the members of this noble 
genus can be determined, it will probably be many years 
before this can be realized. Much has been done of late 
towards a knowledge of the Plantains and Bananas by 
summaries of the known species which have been drawn up 
by Mr. Baker, and published in the “ Annals of Botany,” 
and by a paper in the Kew Bulletin, both cited above. From 
these it appears that about thirty-five species are more or 
less known, though possibly some of them are synonymous, 
or founded in error. Of these nineteen are now in culti- 
vation at Kew, but only six of them have hitherto been 
figured in this magazine. 
Fesrvary Ist, 1895. 
