Musa.] cxxxiv. sciTAMiNEiE (baker). 329 



Species about 20, confined to tropical regions of the Old World, in America 

 cultivated only. 



For a detailed account of the genus and its uses, see Keiv BuUetin^ 1894, 229. 



*PHrsoCAULlS. Trunk ventricose. Fruit not edible. 

 Seeds large. 

 Seeds about 1 in. diam. 

 Petal cuspidate. 



Flowers about 20 in a row , . . . . \. M. JEnsete. 



Flowers about 10 in a row . . . . . 2. M. Buchanani. 



Petal not cuspidate . . . . . . . Z. M. ventricosa. 



Seeds \-\ in. diam. 



Seed with a large hollow at the hilum . . .4. M. living stoniana. 



Seed with a small hollow at the hilum . . .5. M. prohoscidea. 



■**EuMUSA. Trunk cylindrical. Fruit edible. Seeds 

 small or absent. 

 The only species ........ 6. M, sapientum. 



1. M. Ensete, G^mel. Syst. Nat. ii. 567. Whole plant reaching a 

 height of 30-40 ft. Stem ventricose at the base, 8 ft. in circumference, 

 not stoloniferous. Leaves oblong, bright green, reaching a length of 

 20 ft. and a breadth of 3 ft. ; midrib brown ; petiole short, broad, 

 deeply channelled. Peduncle short ; flowering panicle short ; bracts 

 densely imbricate, dark, claret-brown, the lower a foot long, 4-5 in. 

 broad. Flowers whitish, lJ-2 in. long, in two dense rows, up to 20 in 

 a row. Ovary cylindrical, above 1 in. long. Calyx Ungulate, 3-lobed. 

 Petal small, orbicular, with a subulate cusp. Fertile stamens as long 

 as the calyx ; sixth rudimentary, subulate. Fruit coriaceous, dry, 2-3 

 in. long. Seeds 1-4, black, glossy, transversely oblong, nearly 1 in. 

 diam., with a prominent raised border round the hilum. — Hook, in 

 Bot. Mag. t. 5223-4; Rev. Hort. 1881, 144; Flore des Serres, t. 1418; 

 Gard. Chron. 1881, xv. 434, fig. 84 ; Baker in Annals Bot. vii. 205 ; 

 Kew Bulletin, 1894, 240 and 237 with fig. Ensete edule, Horan. 

 Prodr. 40. Ensete, Bruce, Trav. ed. 1, v. Append. 36, with plates. 



XTile Kanda Abyssinia, Plowden ! British East Africa : Niamniam ; Eagiuse 

 Mountain, AScAiwetw/wriA, ser.ii 130! Msi^x, Speke Sf Grant, 6301 Uganda; Kampala, 

 Scott.Elliot, 7165 ! 



It is also reported to have been seen by travellers at Goudokoro, in Bari, in 

 Monbuttu, and in German East Africa, in the Karagwe, Mpororo, and Kilimanjaro 

 districts. 



For information as to its uses, see Bruce's " Travels to discover the Source of the 

 Nile," Append. 36 ; Grant in Trans. Linn. Soc. xxix. 153 ; Duchartre in Journ. Soc. 

 Nat. Hort. France, 1887, 242 ; and Warburg in Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. B. 99. A plant 

 with stolons seen by Heuglin in Semen, and another seen by Grant in Uganda with a 

 stem like two great drums placed one upon another, require further investigation. 



2. M. Buchanani, Baher in Annals Bot. vii. 207. Nearly allied to 

 M. Ensete, but the lower bracts linear-oblong, 1 J ft. long, 4 in. broad. 

 Flowers 10 in a row. Ovary cylindrical, above an inch long. Calyx as 

 long as the ovary. Seeds as large as those of M. Ensete, glossy, black, 

 not tubercled.— Baker in Kew Bulletin, 1894, 241. 



