SIR R. H. SCnOMBURGK ON THE FIG BANANA. 131 



from three to four hundred fruits, resembling a plantain in minia- 

 ture by their being not so round, and somewhat angular, like the 

 common plantain. 



A few days ago. His Excellency Seiior Buenaventura Baez, the 

 President of the Dominican Eepublic, aware of the interest which 

 I take in all that refers to Natural History, sent me a bunch of 

 the kind of Bananas called Guineos, which differed in a very re- 

 markable manner from any I had ever seen before ; nor have I 

 as yet found any person in Saint Domingo who had previously 

 seen anything similar. 



In the usual mode of inflorescence of the Plantain and Banana, 

 the fertile flowers are produced in successive rows, and these 

 having ceased, are succeeded to the end of the stem by barren 

 flowers, none of which produce a fruit. Some botanists have 

 therefore considered the genus Musa as unisexual by abortion. 



The accompanying drawing of the bunch of Bananas which I 

 received from his Excellency the President, shows a most remark- 

 able deviation from the general rule. The upper part of the 

 raceme, nearest to the stem, consists of eight rows of the Fig- 

 Banana, numbering 125 full-grown fruits of that kind. After the 

 eighth row, follow seven series of barren flowers, when, contrary 

 to the usual mode, a new series of fertile flowers springs up, con- 

 sisting of thirteen rows, which have produced 420 fruits, smaller 

 in size than those of the upper part of the raceme, and resembling 

 the Martinica Manzana, or fruits of the Musa chinensis, only that 

 they are much smaller than the fruits of that description in their 

 natural state. 



We have here the singular circumstance of the production of 

 two kinds of fruits, of the same genus it is true, but hitherto con- 

 sidered specifically different, on the same spike, although the 

 plants of both are individually different in growth, and the fruits 

 different with regard to appearance and maturity. The upper 

 parcel of Pig-Bananas were all in full maturity, and commenced 

 to fall off" from the stem (as is the case when the Banana has 

 reached its full ripeness), on the 11th of October, while the lower 

 parcel of fruits began only six days later to assume a yellow 

 colour. 



The appearance of two different kinds of fruits on one and the 

 same stem, reminded me of a somewhat analogous case in a family 

 not many links removed from the Musacece, namely, the production, 

 on the same spike, of flowers of Monacanthus, Myanthus, and Ca- 

 tasetmn, formerly supposed to be different genera belonging to the 



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