MUSACEAE. 35 



' ' 1. SISYRINCHIUM L. Scapose herbs with rootstocks. Leaf -blades flat. 

 Flowers in 1 or more clusters arising from usually 2 bracts (spathe). Sepals 

 and petals blue, white, or yellow, nearly equal, distinct, deciduous. Capsule 

 globose to cubic. Seeds dry. 



/t// 1. S. flagellum Bicknell. Plants very slender and flexuous, 1-3.2 dm. high, 

 slightly glaueescent, drying dark; leaf -blades narrow and flexuous, 0.5-3 mm. 

 wide, few-striate, smooth-edged: scapes 0.75-1.5 mm. wide, narrowly margined, 

 smooth-edged, often flexuous and geniculate at the nodes: spathes often 

 deflected, 1.5-2 cm. long, the bracts subequal or the inner one longer, and often 

 scarious-margined to the apex, the outer one narrowly acuminate: interior 

 scales much shorter than the bracts : capsules on erect slightly exserted pedicels, 

 subglobose, dark, about 4 mm. high. — Pinelands, L. keys. — [E. K.] — Blue- 

 eyed GRASS. 



Order SCITAMINALES. 



Large, commonly perennial, herbs with rootstocks or tubers. Leaves 

 alternate, sometimes all basal : blades relatively large : petioles sheathing- 

 at the base. Flowers very irregular. Perianth white or bright-colored. 

 Androeeium very irregular or sometimes with one stamen or more reduced 

 to stamii:^dia. Gynoecium compound. Ovary inferior. Fruit a capsule, 

 a berry, or a utricle. Endosperm present. 



/■ Family 1. MUSACEAE. Banana Family. 



Caulescent, iisually large herbs, or trees. Flowers perfect or some- 

 what monoecious. Calyx of 3 distinct sepals or united into a sheath-like 

 organ. Corolla of 3 distinct petals or of partially united petals, some- 

 times partially adnate to the calyx. Androeeium of 3 united carpels. 

 Fruit baccate or capsular. 



1. MUSA L. Tree-like herbs, the stem sheathed by the thick leaf-bases. 

 Leaves with large prominently feather-veined blades. Inflorescence drooping, 

 with large bracts. Petals shorter than the sepals, two of them partially 

 adnate to the calyx-tube, the other short, ending in a bent tip. Berry elongate. 

 — Banana. 



Leaf-blades sessile or nearly so : free petal less than % as long as the perianth. 



1. M. CavendisMi. 

 Leaf-blades long-petioled : free petal over % as long as the 



perianth. 2. M. sapientum. 



iV^^l. M. CavendisMi Lamb. Plants stocky, mostly 1-2.5 m. tall: leaf -blades 

 broadly oblong, mostly 1-2 m. long, abruptly contracted at the base: perianth 

 usually over 3.5 cm. long; lateral calyx-lobes prominently appendaged; 

 corolla-lobes ovate: free petal oblong, the tip nearly erect: fruits oblong, 

 mostly 10-15 cm. long, yellowish, the pulp sweet. — Hammocks, U. keys, L. keys. 

 Nat. of China. — [E. K.] — Dwarf-banana. 



/^-^ 2. M, sapientum L. Plants rather slender, 3-7 m. tall: leaf -blades mostly 

 1-2 m. long, narrowed at the base: perianth usually less than 3.5 cm. long; 

 lateral calyx-lobes minutely appendaged; corolla-lobes lanceolate: free petal 

 broadly obovate, the tip inflexed: fruits oblong, 8-11 cm. long, bright-yellow, 

 the pulp sweet.- — Hammocks, U. keys, L. keys. Nat. of the E. Indies. — [E. K.] 

 — Common-banana. 



