EXPLANATORY INDEX. 



373 



B. 



BAMBOO (Bambusa arundinacea.) The many uses to which 

 this gigantic grass is put are too well known to require notice. 



BANANA (Musa sapientium.) One of the strangest of plants. 

 It scarcely ever grows wild, and has been so long propagated 

 by cuttings that it has lost the power of seeding, except in 

 the Andaman Islands, where it does produce seeds, some of 

 which have been sent to England by the late C. Kingsley, 

 who thus writes of it : 



"Most beautiful it is. The lush, fat, green stem; the 

 crown of huge leaves falling over in curves like those of 



human limbs ; and below the whorls of green or golden 

 fruit, with the purple heart of flowers dangling behind them ; 

 and all so full of life that this splendid object is the product of 

 a few months. 



