286 Select Plants for Industrial Culture and 



Mucuna Cochincliinensis, Bentham. (Macranthus Cochinchinensis, 

 Loureiro.) 



A climbing annual, which can be reared in the open air in Eng- 

 land. Pods, cooked as a vegetable, taste like those of kidney-beans 

 [Johnson]. 



Muehlenbergla diffusa, Willdenow. 



Southern States of North-America. Perennial. Recorded among 

 the good native fodder-grasses of Alabama by C. Mohr, thriving as 

 well on dry hills as in low damp forest-ground. Prof. Killebrew 

 mentions, that this grass in Tennessee carpets the soil in forests 

 with a living green. M. glomerata (Trinius) is in the same region 

 a pasture- and hay-grass, available on wet meadows [Dr. Vasey]. 



IWCuehlenberg-ia Ittexicana, Trinius. 



Southern parts of North- America. A perennial good fodder" 

 grass, particularly fit for low humid ground, also for forests. Root 

 creeping ; stem much branched, bending down. 



UXurraya exotica, Koenig. 



South -Asia, Polynesia, East- and North- Australia. This shrub 

 or small tree is one of the best among the odoriferous plants in 

 India [C. B. Clarke]. M. Koenigii (Sprengel) ascends the Hima- 

 layas to 5,000 ; its leaves are in frequent use as an ingredient of 

 curries. 



IVXusa Cavendishii, Lambert.* (Musa regia, Ruuiph ; Musa Chinensis, 

 Sweet ; Musa nana, Loureiro.) 



The Chinese Banana. A comparatively dwarf species, the stem 

 attaining a height of only about 5 or 6 feet. Its robust and dwarf 

 habit render it particularly fit for exposed localities, and this is one 

 of the reasons, why it is so extensively cultivated in the South- Sea 

 Islands. It is also less liable to disease than the other cultivated 

 species, and keeps better in transit. The yield of fruit is profuse 

 (even as much as 200 to 300 fruits in a spike), and the flavor 

 excellent. Mr. J. S. Edgar states, that bunches of this banana with 

 thirty dozen fruits are no rarity at Keppel-Bay. General Sir John 

 Lefroy saw bunches of 80 Ibs. weight produced in Bermuda, where 

 the plant bears fruits all the year round. This, as well as M. 

 sapientum and M. paridisiaca, still ripens its fruits in Madeira, 

 Florida and at Port Jackson, where it can be reared more profitably 

 than M. paradisiaca. Introduced about 50 years ago by the Duke 

 of Devonshire through the Rev. J. S. Williams to the South-Sea 

 Islands, and by the Earl of Derby, through Mr. Mills, to Australia. 

 The specific name, given by M. Loureiro, is entitled to preference. 

 All Musas are grand honey-plants. 



