M U S 



M Y R 



within, which drops off when the flowers open : 

 the upper part of the spike is made up of male 

 or barren flowers, wliich are not succeeded by 

 fruit : the fruit is eight or nine inches long, and 

 above an inch diameter, a little incurved, and 

 has three angles; it is at first green, but, when 

 ripe, of a pale yellow colour, having a tough 

 skin, within which is a soft pulp of a luscious 

 sweet flavour : the spikes of fruit are so large as 

 to weigh upwards of forty pounds in some cases. 

 It is a native of the East Indies, flowering from 

 October to November. 



The second species, or Banana Tree, differs 

 from the preceding in having its stalks marked 

 with dark purple stripes and spots : the fruit is 

 shorter and rounder, with a softer pulp of a more 

 luscious taste : but Mr. Dampier savs, it is less 

 luscious, though of a more delicate taste. And 

 according to Long, it has a softer, mellower 

 taste, and is more proper for fritters than the 

 Plantain. A very excellent drink is made from 

 the juice of the ripe fruit fermented, resembling 

 the best Southam cyder. It is found in the 

 West Indies. 



There are several varieties of each species. 



It is observed by Brown, that " these two 

 fruits are among the greatest blessings bestowed 

 by Providence upon the inhabitants of hot cli- 

 mates." And that " three dozen Plantains are 

 sufficient to serve one man for a week instead of 

 bread, and will support him much better." 



Culture. — These plants may be increased by 

 planting the young suckers of the roots of such 

 plants as have fruited, taken off carefully with 

 root-fibres, in large pots filled with light rich 

 earth, and plunged in the tan-bed of the stove, 

 in the sunimer season. 



They afterwards require to have water given 

 pretty plentifully in the hot summer months, 

 but more sparingly in the winter, and in less 

 proportions at a time. They succeed best in about 

 the same degrees of heat as the Pine Apple. 

 They should have the pots increased in size as 

 they advar.ce in growth. 



But the best way to have them fruit well in 

 this climate is to shake them out of the pots, 

 after they have become fully established, with 

 the balls of earth about their roots, and plant 

 them in the tan-bed in the stove, old tan being 

 laid round them for their root-fibres to strike 

 into. 



When new tan is added, care shoidd be taken 

 not to disturb their roots, and always to leave 

 plenty of old tan about them, to guard against 

 too nuich heat. 'Iliey should have water twice 

 a week in winter, about two quarts each plant 

 at a time, and in summer twice as much at a 

 time and every other day. The signs of per- 



fecting their fruit, are their pushing out their 

 flower-stems in the spring. The stoves should 

 be sufficiently high for this purpose, as twenty 

 feet or more. 



In their native country, these trees thrive 

 best where the soil is rich, cool, and moist. 

 Their fruiting in the South Sea islands is said 

 to be promoted by the use of lime and wood- 

 ashes. 



They are mostly cultivated here by way of 

 curiosity and for variety. 



MUSHROOM. SeeAGARicus. 



MUSTARD. See Sinapis. 



MYRICA, a genus furnishing plants of the 

 deciduous and evergreen shrubby kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Dioecia 

 Tetrandria, and ranks in the natural order of 

 AmentacccB. 



The characters are : that in the male the 

 calyx is an ovate-oblong ament, imbricate on all 

 sides, loose, composed of one-flowered, crescent- 

 shaped, bluntly acuminate, concave scales : pc- 

 rianthium proper none: there is no corolla : the 

 stamina have four filaments (seldom six) filiform, 

 short, erect: anthers large, twin, with bifid 

 lobes : female — the calyx as in the male : there is 

 no corolla : the pistillum is a subovate germ : 

 styles tw^o, filiform, longer than the calyx : stio- 

 mas simple : the pericarpium is a one-celled 

 berry : the seed single. 



The species cultivated are: I. M. Gale, 

 Sweet Gale, Sweet Willow, or Candle-Berry 

 Myrtle ; 2. M. cerij'era, American Candle- 

 Berry Myrtle; 3. M. quercifolia, Oak-leaved 

 Candle-Berry Myrtle ; 4. M. cordifoUa, Heart- 

 leaved Candle-Berry Myrtle. 



The first rises uith many shrubby stalks, from 

 two to near four feet high, dividing into several 

 slender branches, and is covered with a dusky 

 or rust-coloured bark, sprinkled with white dots: 

 the buds are composed of nine leafy shining 

 scales, the first nearly opposite, very short, rect- 

 angularly pointed, the rest ovate, and blunt : 

 the leaves are alternate, stiff, an inch and half 

 long, and half an inch broad in the middle, lioht 

 or yellowish green, smooth, a little serrate to- 

 wards their points, and emitting a fragrant odour 

 when bruised ; which is occasioned by the resi- 

 nous points with which they are sprinkled : they 

 are convoluted and petioled : the flowers appear 

 before the leaves ; and the flower-buds are above 

 the leaf-buds, at the ends of the branches, whence 

 as soon as the fructification is completed the end 

 of the branch dies, the leaf-buds which are on 

 the sides shoot out, and the stems become com- 

 pound : the aments or catkins arc of a short 

 ovate figure, of a yellowish brown colour, and 

 frequently sprinkled with shining resinous golden 



