The true limits of the different so-called Musas, sapient um and 

 paradisiaca, Bananas and Plantains, are not known, and pro- 

 bably not attainable by direct observation ; and the names also 

 are indifferently ascribed in different countries to the same or 

 different varieties or species. As a general rule, the name Ba- 

 nana is given to the sweet edible fruits, and of Plantain to the 

 inedible, or such as are edible only when cooked ; whilst of some, 

 all the longer or larger-fruited sorts are Plantains, and the smaller 

 or shorter-fruited, Bananas ; but in India, as a general rule, all 

 the sweet edible ones are called Plantains, and the w r ord Banana 

 is little known. A vast number of varieties of both sorts have 

 been cultivated in the great Palm House at Kew ; and we can 

 confidently affirm, that in general though the shorter-fruited sorts 

 are the best eating, many of the long-fruited are excellent, and 

 have been sent to us from the West Indies on account of their 

 acknowledged excellency. We do however recognize a preva- 

 lent difference of habit between what may be M. paradisiaca, 

 which has longer leaves narrowed into the petiole, and M. sapi- 

 entum, in which the leaves are more rounded or cordate at the 

 base, though intermediate states occur; the flowers afford no 

 character. Roxburgh, who has paid particular attention to both 

 the native and cultivated Bananas and Plantains of India, pro- 

 nounces both to be varieties of one plant that is common in the 

 hilly districts of East Bengal, and which he calls M. sapientum. 

 Brown again (Congo, App. 471) regards all cultivated Musas, 

 except M. Ensete, as varieties of 31. sapientum. Loureiro (Fl. 

 Coch. 792) says the same thing; as does Desvaux (Journ. Bot. 

 1814, n. 1. f. 27), who enumerates twenty-one varieties of Ba- 

 nanas with large fruit (7-15 in. long), called Plantains by the Bri- 

 tish j and twenty-three varieties of Fig-Bananas, with small fruit 

 (1-6 in. long), called Bananas by the British. Rumphius how- 

 ever expressly states that the true Bananas are the long-fruited 

 ( 12 -13 in- long), and the smaller-fruited form are called " Ba- 

 covos." The local East and West India names are endless. 



Fig. 1. Plant reduced. 2. Bract and hermaphrodite flowers. 3. Unripe 

 Fruit. 4. Transverse section of the same. 



