24 - FLORA OF THE 



rows, varying from four to seven in each row. Musa 

 superba (3850, Bot. Mag.) has the line near the base 

 of the ovaries, and a fasciated part which attaches 

 the cluster to the stem. Musa rosacea (Bot. Mag.) 

 has only two or three ovaries under each bract. In 

 Musa paradisiaca, one of the kinds cultivated for its 

 fruit, there are two rows of bananas, but each banana 

 is separately attached to the stem. All the cultivated 

 kinds of Musa sapientum, which I have seen, had two 

 rows of bananas, the number in a row varying. The 

 insertion of the fruit on the stem varies also. In 

 some the fasciated part is short ; in others longer. 



In the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, 

 there is an original colored drawing of a yellow 

 variety, with the usual curve, made by John Reeves, 

 \\\\o resided some time in Canton. It has two rows 

 in each cluster, and, curiousl}' enough, it has seven 

 bananas in each row, like those of the pi. 64, Tome I 

 of Botta's Monuments.' 



Another original drawing has red fruit, and the 

 individuals are straight, like some which are shown 

 on the monuments. 



The bunch of plantains is too large and heavy to 

 be handled and offered as a whole ; and so, by means 

 of a knife, it is divided into clusters, such as are 



' I should not place much weight on the number, seven, as it was a mystic 

 number among the ancients. 



