The Banana. 287 



to nine inches in diameter, to the height even of yards, 

 branchless, like those of palms, and carrying upon the 

 summit half a dozen superb leaves, six to nine feet long 

 by two or two and a half in breadth, of a rich and lucid 

 green, and which arch away from it on their long petioles, 

 magnificently. The veining of the leaves is of that very 

 rare and elegant kind which has been fittingly called 

 feather-like, innumerable lateral veins flowing from the 

 midrib, in a curvilinear manner, towards the margin. 

 The stem is composed, in reality, of no more than the 

 sheathing and closely compacted bases of the older 

 petioles, in the heart of which, near the ground, the 

 flower-bud is generated. This, in due time, develops 

 itself from among the youngest leaves as a huge pendu- 

 lous raceme, constituted of crimson bracts, which protect 

 innumerable though rather trifling flowers, followed, again 

 in due time, by the well-known fruits cylindrical, six or 

 eight inches long, an inch or more in diameter, slightly 

 curved, and when ripe, pale yellow. The clusters of fruit 

 are often four feet long, and weigh from twelve up to 

 sixty or eighty pounds, as may be learned even in the 

 shops, where they are frequently suspended to attract 

 attention. In the tropics it is said that two plants will 

 grow anywhere, the castor-oil plant and the banana. 

 This is not only true, but it may be added with equal 

 justice, that no plant furnishes man spontaneously with 

 supplies so vast of a pleasant and nourishing food. In 

 countries where the mean heat of the year is never lower 

 than seventy-five degrees, the banana is the bread of the 



