BANANA FAMILY. 413 



acute, 1° long ; raceme lax, simple or forked, the bracts small and obtuse, 

 green ; sepals very small (^' long), oblong and greenish ; petals lanceo- 

 late, about 1' long, pale green ; staminodia oblanceolate and pale yellow, 

 2' or less long, the lip linear, notched, pale yellow, not spotted. 



C. Warscew'iczii, Dietr. Stem glabrous, 3°-4° high, light purple ; 

 leaves purple-brown, oblong and acute, 1^'^ or less long; raceme simple 

 and rather dense, the bracts ovate, brown and very glaucous ; sepals 

 oblong-lanceolate, small, glaucous ; petals lanceolate, red-tinged and 

 glaucous, 2' long ; staminodia (sometimes 3) oblanceolate, 3' or less long, 

 sometimes obscurely notched, bright scarlet, the lip plain bright scarlet, 

 and distinctly notched. 



C. specibsa, Roscoe. Stem 5°-6° high, green and glabrous ; leaves green, 

 broad-oblong and acute, the lowermost often 2° long ; panicle deeply 

 forked ; sepals lanceolate and pale red ; petals 2' long, lanceolate, pale 

 red ; staminodia notched, bright red, 3' long, the lip also notched at the 

 apex, and bright reddish-yellow. Himalayas. 



C. discolor, Lindl. Stem 5°-10° high, glabrous and glaucous, purple; 

 leaves broad, oblong and acute, claret-brown, the lowermost sometimes 

 3° long ; panicle deeply forked, the bracts orbicular ; sepals small, lance- 

 olate and green ; petals lanceolate, pale green ; staminodia oblanceolate 

 and entire, bright red, 2^° long; lip lanceolate and notched, brick-red. 



* * Corolla tube 2' or more long; upper staminodia 3, clawed; lip 



• orbicular. 



C. flaccida, Salisb. Wild in swamps, S. Car., S.; 20-4° high, with 

 ovate-lanceolate, pointed leaves, and yellow flowers 3'— 1' long ; all the 

 inner divisions obovate and wavy, lax, the 3 corolla lobes reflexed. 



• * « Corolla tube as long as the blades of the staminodia ; flowers large 



and pendulous. 



C. iridiflbra, Ruiz. & Pav. Stem 6°-10° high, green ; leaves oblong, 

 slightly pubescent beneath, bright green ; panicle composed of several 

 drooping racemes ; sepals I'long, lanceolate, green ; corolla lobes lance- 

 olate, red-brown : staminodia 3, somewhat longer than the corolla lobes, 

 bright red, the lip of the same color and notched. 



C. Ehemanni of gardens is a hybrid of this and probably C. Warsce- 

 wiczii. The modern race of dwarf and Crozy "flowering" Cannas is 

 mostly sprung from this garden form again crossed, the red-flowered ones 

 being mainly hybrids of C. Ehemanni and C. Warscewiczii, and the yel- 

 low-flowered ones largely of C. Ehemanni and C. glauca. 



C. liliiflbra, Warsc. Similar to C. iridiflora in habit, but the flowers 

 white and fragrant. Not yet common, but it will undoubtedly play an 

 important part in garden forms in the future. 



5. MUSA, BANANA, PLANTAIN. (^Antonius Musa, physician to 



Augustus.) 



M. Sapientum, Linn. Baxava. Cult, for foliage and for the well- 

 known fruit ; the enwrapping bases of the huge leaves forming a sort of 

 tree-like, succulent stem, 10°-20° high ; the flower stalk rising through 

 the center, and developing a drooping spike, the flowers clustered in the 

 axil of its purplish bracts ; berry oblong, by long cultivation (from off- 

 shoots) seedless. (Lessons, Fig. 71.) 



M. Cavendishii, Lamb. A dwarf species, flowering at a few feet in 

 height, is more manageable in greenhouses ; leaves 2°-3° long. China. 



M. Ensete, Gmel. Now very popular amongst gardeners, much used 

 for planting out in summer ; leaves nearly erect, 10°-16° long and 3°-4'^ 

 wide, bright green, with a stout crimson midrib ; stem 10°-20° high and 

 becoming very thick. Abyssinia. 



