402 GENERAL MORPHOLOGY OF PLANTS 



are the onion and asparagus. Fibers are obtained from the New 

 Zealand flax, a member of this family, and from the century plant. 

 Among the native wild species may be mentioned dog-tooth violet 

 or adder's tongue, the wild lilies, etc. 



Fig. 389- 



Cannabis sativa. Cutting hemp with ordinary mowing machine. A horizontal bar attached 

 to an upright from the tongue of the machine bends the hemp forward in the same direction 

 that the machine moves. In China and Formosa, where ramie is grown commercially, one 

 stalk is cut at a time, leaving the younger stalks to continue their growth. Immediately after 

 cutting the stalk the bark, including the fiber, is stripped off and the fiber is then cleaned by 

 hand. From Fiber Investigations, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



567. The banana (Musa paradisiaca) should be mentioned 

 among other useful food plants of the monocotyledons. The 

 banana is a native of tropical countries and is cultivated for its 

 long pod-like fruits which are seedless in the commercial variety. 

 The flowers are somewhat related to the orchids, and are pro- 

 duced in a long terminal spike, the large fruits hanging in dense 

 heavy clusters. The plant is like a small tree in size, with broad 

 and long strap-shaped leaves. One of these " plants," or aerial 

 shoots, bears but once. It dies down and a new shoot is rapidly 

 developed from a short stout root-stock. The banana is grown in 

 greenhouses for ornament, and the commercial variety often fruits 

 here. It is cultivated to some extent outdoors in the extreme 

 southern parts of the United States, but our chief supply comes 

 from the West Indies and Central America. Other varieties 

 for ornament are grown from the seed. Manila hemp (Musa 

 textilis) is cultivated in the Philippines for the fiber. 



