338 FOREST CULTURE AND 
growth. Stem not spotted. Bracts purple inside. 
In this, as wellas the foregoing and the following, new 
shoots are produced from the root, to replace annually 
the fruit-bearing stem. The fruit of this is chiefly 
prepared by some cooking process. Only a few va- 
rieties are distinguished, and they seem to have sprung 
from the wild state of M. sapientum. The writer did 
not wish to pass this and the allied plants unnoticed, 
as they will endure our clime in the warmest localities 
of the colony, where, under more careful attention, 
they are likely to mature with regularity their fruit. 
They require rich and humid soil. Plantain meal is 
prepared by simply reducing the dried pulp to pow- 
der. It is palatable, digestible, and nourishing. 
Musa sapientum, L.—The ordinary Banana or 
Sweet Plantain. India. One of the most important 
plants, yielding nutritious, delicious fruits. The stem 
is spotted. Bracts green inside. The leaves, and 
particularly the stalks and the stems of this and other 
species of Musa, can be utilized for producing a fiber 
similar to Manila Hemp. The fruit of this is used 
chiefly unprepared ; it is generally of a yellow color. 
Numerous varieties are distinguished. As much as 
a hundred weight of fruit isobtained froma plant an- 
nually in tropical climes. At Caracas, where the tem- 
perature is seldom much above or below 60 degrees 
F., the Plantain and Banana plants are very product- 
ive, being loaded with fruits 12 to 15 inches long, on 
mountains about 5,000 feet high. In our dry Murray 
regions the winter temperature seems too low for the 
successful development of these plants, except on shel- 
tered spots. ; 
Musa troglodytarum, L. (M. uranoscopos, Rumph. ) 
