380 cxxxiv. sciTAMiNE^ (baker). [Musa. 



Mozamb. Dlst. British Central Africa : Nyasaland ; Shire Highlands, 2000 ft., 

 Suchanan, 470 ! 



3. M. ventricosa, Welw. Apont. Phyto-Geogr. 545, 578. Whole 

 plant 8-10 ft. high. Stem much swollen, 4 ft. diam. at the base. 

 Leaves oblanceolate-oblong, bright green, 4-5 ft. long; midrib pale 

 red ; petiole very short and stout. Panicle drooping, nearly as long as 

 the leaves ; petiole very short and stout ; sterile bracts lanceolate, 

 1-1 J ft. long; flower bracts oblong, 8-12 in. long; 3-4J in. broad. 

 Flowers densely clustered, 2 in. long. Calyx 3-lobed, longer than the 

 ovary. Petal ovate, entire, J in. long. Fruit like that of M. Ensete. 

 Seeds as large as those of M. Ensete, dull black, with a broad hollow at 

 the hilum. — Ridley in Journ. Bot. 1887, 134; Baker in Annals Bot. 

 vii. 206 ; Kew Bulletin, 1894, 241. 



Iiower Guinea. Angola : Pungo Andongo ; in rocky places near rivulets, 

 Welwitsch, 6447 ! 



M. africana, Bull Cat. 1871, 6, is probably this species in a young state. 



4. M. livingstoniana, Kirk in Journ. Linn. Soc. ix. 128. Stem 

 conical, twice the height of a man, 2-3 ft. diam. Leaves narrowly 

 oblong, crowded, as long as the trunk, with a short broad-clasping 

 deeply channelled petiole. Fruit many-seeded, 4 in. long. Seeds 

 globose, angled by pressure in the lower half, J in. diam., dull brown, 

 tubercled, with a depressed hilum surrounded by prominent edges. — 

 Baker in Annals Bot. vii. 207 ; Kew Bulletin, 1804, 241. 



Mozamb. Bist. Portuguese East Africa : Gorongozo, Kirk ! British Central 

 Africa : Nyasaland ; Maravi country, and near Lake Shirwa, Kirk ! 



Is in cultivation at Kew from seeds sent by Buchanan and Mahon. The sap of 

 the leaves is bright red. 



There is in the Kew^ Museum a necklace of similar seeds, brought by Barter from 

 Sierra Leone. 



5. M. proboscidea, Oliv. in Hook. Ic. t. 1777. Trunk swollen at 

 the base, reaching 4-5 times the height of a man. Leaves narrowly 

 oblong, very large, 4-5 times as long as broad, narrowed from the 

 middle to the base ; petiole short, deeply channelled. Panicle drooping, 

 very long ; bracts broadly ovate, obtuse, about four times the length of 

 the flowers ; flowers in close rows of about a dozen. Calyx as long as 

 the cylindrical ovary. Petal orbicular, small, with a linear central 

 cusp. Seeds turbinate, black, glossy, J in. long and broad, with only a 

 small hollow at the bottom. — Baker in Annals Bot. vii. 207; Kew 

 Bulletin, 1894, 241. 



Mozaxnl). Sist. German East Africa : Hills of Ukami, Kirk ! 



6. M, sapientum, Linn. Sp. Plarit. ed. 2, 1477. Stem cylindrical, 

 reaching a length of 20-25 ft., 4-G in. diam., stoloniferous at the 

 base. Leaves oblong, bright green, 5-8 ft. long; petiole 1-1 J ft. long. 

 Panicle drooping, often 4-5 ft. long ; male flowers deciduous ; bracts 

 oblong-lanceolate, dull violet, more or less glaucous outside ; flowers 



