CH. VII] FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 91 



The most popular fruit with the people of colder climates is 

 of course the plantain or banana (Musa paradisiaca), which is 

 now consumed in very large quantities, and is largely cultivated 

 for the market in Nicaragua, the West Indies and the Canary 

 Islands. The plant grows from suckers which are planted 

 out at regular intervals. Each produces what appears to be 

 an erect stem about 8 to 12 feet high, but in reality this is 

 made up of the bases of the leaves coiled round one another, 

 and the real stem is a root-stock below the ground. Presently 

 the flowering shoot comes right up through the coiled leaf 

 bases, and produces a drooping spike of flowers at the top of 

 the plant. The fruits are produced independently of the ferti- 

 lisation of the flowers, and though in the wild plantain they 

 are full of seeds, in the cultivated one they produce seed but 

 rarely, and then only one or two infertile ones. The flower 

 head that crowns the stalk is often cooked as a vegetable. 



There are many varieties of the banana, but as a rule only 

 one kind is seen in England, this being the one which produces 

 most freely, and at the same time stands being carried long 

 distances, while it ripens on the way. Many of the other 

 varieties are preferable to this one, being more soft and mealy. 

 One of the favourite ones in the east is a dull red colour and 

 very large. 



The name banana, by which this fruit is known in England 

 and the United States, is confined in the tropics to the West 

 Indies, while in India and Ceylon it is termed the plantain, a 

 name applied in the west only to the cooking variety. 



The pineapple (Ananassa sativa) is another very popular 

 fruit in the north, and at one time hothouse pines were highly 

 favoured. Now, however, with the large cultivation that goes 

 on in the tropics, the fruit has cheapened so much that hot- 

 house culture has almost died out. It is cultivated on open 

 land, and very carefully packed for export, each fruit in a 

 separate compartment of a crate. Another very considerable 

 trade is that in tinned pineapples from Singapore, which is in 

 the hands of the Chinese in that port. 



The pine occurs in many varieties. The largest is perhaps 

 the Smooth Cayenne as grown in Ceylon, where on good rich 



