Till: SI-KCIES OF BAH AN A 



MUSA 



SAPIENTUM 

 BaiUUMl 



PUnUln ttrtui 



I', in i:.. i 



r, Ann. Bot., 1893, vii., 189-222 ; Kew Bull, 1894, 229-314 ; Gamble, 

 M.,,,. Ind. Timbs., 1902, 723; Prain, Beng. Plants, 190:i. n., 1050; 

 r, Man. Gard. Ind. (ed. Cameron), 1904, 204-9 ; Schumann in 

 Pflanzenr., iv. (!")), i:-'J8; SCITAMINE*. 



of tire like herbs with thick stems largely composed of the 

 leaf-sheaths. It contains some 10 sp.-. :.tl of which 



are often considered us mere cultivated varieties. 



M. sapientum, Linn.', The Banana, kela, kach-kula, katitali-kela, 

 vazhaip, pazham, anati, ariti, bale, vasha, ya khaing,otc. A perennial h-rb. 

 s to If) feet in height, indigenous in the hills of Bihar, the Eastern Himalaya 

 and the mountains of Assam, Manipur and Burma, ascending to 4,000 

 feet ; cultivated throughout India and the tropics. By some writers the 

 Plantain is considered a distinct species, and placed under the name 

 M . iHii'tHlitiitH'ti, but by most authorities it is simply a cultivated variety 

 of >/. siiitifHfnin. According to Schumann, both should be placed 

 under M. jmr<nlixi(ir<i. 



.1. <!. Uaker, in the Flora of British India, gives ten different forms Cultivated 

 of this plant. The more important of these from the Indian standpoint Forms, 

 are : 



M. Dacca, Hon,,,.. Prod. Monog. Scit., 1862, 41. Distinguished by the Dacca, 

 pale green leaves and stem, white pruinose below, the petiole having a broad 

 red border and the fruit being pale yellow. Cameron adds that the tip and stout 

 stalk remain of a bright green, while the fruit is still firm on the bunch when fully 

 ripe. Cameron also suggests that this is the Daccce or Daccce-M artaban ; 

 is doubtless the dhakkai described by Liotard as abundant in Eastern Bengal. 



M. Champa, Hort. Stem and mid-rib of the leaf red, fruit pale straw- Champa: 

 coloured, about 6 inches long. Cameron makes two forms. These are the Calcutta, 

 Champa the finest of all the plantains, but not fit to be eaten till it can be 

 removed from the bunch without the slightest effort : and the Chini-Champa, 

 which differs only from the preceding in being much smaller (in fact, not much 

 larger than the thumb). These two are the plantains most generally seen in 

 Calcutta. 



M. sikkimensis, Kurz. A wild form. 



M. paradlslaca, Linn. Fruit large, long and firm the field plant of India genor- Plantain. 

 ally ; is eaten only after having been cooked. This is the plantain of Cameron, 

 \\hile .M. !> and w. <7ini| above, with the Bombay red fruit below, \vmil<l 

 be the Bananas of India. Under this form should be included the kuntela and 

 kach-ktla, the large coarse fruits eaten by the poorer classes throughout India. 



M. cornlculata (ftumphius), Kurz, a form closely resembling . prf!!r, and 

 its representative to a large extent in Western and Southern India. 

 M. textilis, Nee (see below). 



M. arakanensls, Ripley. In the Flora of British India this is simply men- Arakan. 

 tioned as a fibre-yielding form, but Capt. Ripley sent to the Agri.-Horticultural 

 Society of India (in 1857) 19 forms of Arakan plantains, each possessing special 

 properties of its own, some having red, others pale yellow, and still others dull 

 white fruits. The one which he specially designated M. m i. nn !/ yields, 

 he says, both a fine fruit and a useful fibre. One of these Arakan plantains 

 the Royal Plantain he further observes, bears fruits 15 inches long. The most 

 characteristic plantain of Burma much resembles the Bombay red plantain, 

 which Cameron calls : 



M. rubra, Firminger (non Wall.) ; Baker, Ann. Bot., vii., 221; ram-kela Red or Bombay. 

 or Red Plantain. This is a remarkably fine fruit ; in flavour and buttery con- 

 sistency recalls the Dacca plantain. The plant is unmistakable at a glance, as 

 it has the stem and leaf -stalks and mid-ribs of a dull red colour, as also^the flowers. 

 The fruit is about 7 inches long and rather thin, is at first of a very dark red 

 colour, but ripens into a yellowish red. Though not very common in India as 

 a whole, it is the characteristic better-class plantain of Bombay. Hence the 

 plantains of Calcutta and Bombay are widely different, both in appearance and 

 flavour. 



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