IN EXTRA-TROPICAL COUNTRIES. 201 



compounds. The preparation of starch from bananas is lucrative, 

 as the yield is copious. Many Indian populations live almost 

 exclusively on the fruit. 



Musa simiarum, Humph.* (M. corniculata, Lourerio ; _3f. acuminata, 



Coll.). 



From Malacca to the Sunda Islands. About half a hundred 

 marked varieties of this species, called mainly Peesangs in India, 

 are under cultivation there, especially on the Archipelagus, while 

 M. sapientum occurs wild more frequently on the mainland. 

 Though the latter is principally cultivated on the Indian continent, 

 yet it never equals in delicacy the cultivated forms of M. simiarum, 

 the fruit of which sometimes attains a length of 2 feet (Kurz). 



Musa troglodytarum, Linne. (M. uranoscopos, Humph.) 



India, and apparently indigenous also in the Fiji and other islands 

 of the Pacific Ocean. The fruit-stalk of this species stands 

 upright ; the edible fruits are small, reddish, or orange-coloured ; 

 pulp gamboge yellow, mawkish sweet (Kurz). The Chinese M. 

 coccinea, Ait., a dwarf ornamental species, has also the fruit-spike 

 straight. 



Myoporum Isetum, Forster. 



New Zealand, where it is called Ngaio by the aborigines. As a 

 shelter-tree it is equal to M. insulare for the most exposed parts of 

 the coast. It is excellent for shade, and its wood takes a fine 

 polish. It can be raised on the beach from cuttings. Uprooted it 

 will produce new roots if covered in near the sea. Sheep and 

 horses browse on the foliage. 



Myrica cerifera, Linne. 



The Wax-Myrtle. Sandy sea-coast of North America. This shrub 

 helps to bind the rolling sand ; it has fragrant leaves ; the fruits 

 are boiled, and the floating wax, which can be converted into 

 candles, is skimmed off. In Patagonia, Argentina and Chili the 

 scrophularineous Monttea aphylla, Bentham (Oxycladus aphyllus, 

 Miers), yields vegetable wax from its branches (Lorentz). 



Myrica cordifolia, Linne. 



South Africa. This bushy plant arrests the influx of the sea-sand ; 

 it also yields remuneratively wax from its fruits. 



Myrica Faya, Aiton. 



Madeira, Azores and Canary Islands. A small tree. The drupa- 

 ceous fruits are used for preserves. M. sapida Wallich, an Indian 

 mountainous species, has also edible fruits. 



