394 The Philippine Journal of Science 1915 
beyond the 3 to 10 basal fascicles, sterile, the sterile deciduous 
flowers maturing gradually, the basal at about the same time as 
the lowest fertile flowers. The stamens of the terminal flowers 
in some varieties are either all or part aborted or sterile. The 
perfect stamens are usually longer than the pistil, the filaments 
usually longer than the anthers. The form of stigma varies, 
some being short and lobed and others oblong. 
The fruits exhibit different forms and sizes in different varie- 
ties, cylindric or angular, elongated or short, from 6 to 20 em 
long, from 2.5 to 7 cm in diameter, forming from 3 to 12 hands in 
a bunch, with from 6 to 19 fruits in a hand. The position of 
the hands on the rachis varies a great deal; some are in loose 
open order, and others are closely packed together at nearly 
right angles. Some fruits have a thick skin and others have a 
thin skin, some have a firm and others have a soft pulp. The 
fruits are either sessile or short-pedicelled, yellow or purple when 
ripe, the pulp yellowish or white when ripe; seeds usually absent. 
Like other members of the genus, Musa sapientum yields a 
fiber, but it is inferior in tensile strength to that of M. textilis. 
The fruits are sweet and commonly eaten without cooking. _ 
This species is grown in all tropical countries. It was origin- 
ally described by Linneus from cultivated and seedless forms.” 
It is practically unknown in a really wild state. 
The above description is made from our own collections and 
would require much modification in a broader application. 
Baker’s description is as follows: 
*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 to 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, 14 inches long; calyx five-toothed at 
the top; petal ovate, half as long as the calyx. Fruit oblong-trigonous, 
3-8 inches long, 14 to 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 through- 
out 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 
M. textilis. 
™ Kew Bull., Add. ser. VI pt. 2 (1906) 28. 
* Kew Bull., Add. ser. VI pt. 2 (1906) 22. 
