A. MOM Mi.-. J 



Ml - VI I ..!.. 





Osdkb XLVIII. MUSACE^.— Mi sadb 



1788 M • in Aph. i 



1838 : EncUieher P / ... Endl. Gen. lxx. -, UitiLuuJoi- . 



mr. 17. - -'j7. ; Meitntr, , 



Diagnosis Amomal Endogau will 



mless or nearly Btemless plants, with leaves Bheathing at the base, and fora 

 land of spurious stem, often very large, their limb separated fron the i. 

 ■ round tumour, and having fine parallel veins diverg- 

 ing regularly from the midrib towards the margin 

 Flow irs Bpathaceous. Perianth 6-parted, adherent, 

 petaloid, in 2 distinct rows, more or less irregular. 

 Stamens <■, inserted upon the middle "f the divisions, 



b always becoming abortive ; anthers linear, turned 



Inwards, 2-celled, often having a membranous petaloid 

 crest Ovary inferior, 3-celled, many-seeded, rarely 

 3-seeded ; ovules anatropal ; Btyle simple : b( 

 usually 3-lobed. Fruit either a 3-celled capsule, with a 

 loculicidal dehiscence, or succulenl and indehiscent 

 sometimes surrounded by hairs, with an integu- 

 ment which is usually cruBtaceous ; embryo orthotropal, 



oblong-linear, or mushr i-shaped, with the radicular 



end touching the hilum, having pierced through tli<* 

 mealy albumen. 



The relationship of this < (rderwill be pointed out under 

 Gingerworts and Marants, with which the Musadsare 

 Btrictly related. The flower of Musais weU described 

 in the Appendix to thi | I . 171., in a 



note ; that of StreUtzia is pi ntandrous and exceedingly 

 irregular, and is admirably illustrated in Bauer's draw- 

 ings, published some years sine- by Ker, under the title 



■ . The hilum of the seed gives rise to a tuft of long hairs in Ui 

 and Stivlit/ia. For remarks upon the distinctive characters of some ol tin 

 M usads, see BndL Prodr.p 34, and 1 ' loit in the place above quoti I. M 

 are doubtless the most perfect of the Amomal Alliance, excelling the others both in the 

 size at which they arrive, and the compl tern ss of then? parts of fructification. 



Native s of tlir Cape of <t 1 Hope, the islands of it- Bouth-< a 



of the plains of the tropics, beyond which thej do not naturall) exfo nd, unl< » in 2 

 the climate of which m ms to I"- much at variance with that of othi r coui tJ 

 same latitude. 



They arc most valuable plants, both for (he abundant f nutritivt 



their Bruit, called in the tropics Plantains and Bananas, and for the 



purposes to which the gigantic leaves of Bome Bpecies arc applit L Th< 



for thatching Indian cottages, for a natural cloth from which t 1 



food, as a materia] for basket making, and finally they yield 



tcxtilis>, from which some of the finest muslins of India an 



formed of the unite. 1 petioles of the leai es, which are rema 



of Bpira] vessels the) contain : th.se exist in such number 



pulled oul l'_\ handfuls, and are said to be collected in the Wesl 



kin.l of tinder.— /' 38. The number of threads in 



Bpira) vessels varies from 7 to 22. / 87. The young si 



eaten as a delicate vegetable. The root of Helicon] 



Bihai, and the seed of Urania speciosa or Ravenala, a n 



called by the French Arbrt du F . :" the 



Pig. 0X11 — Mus:i i . 



2 



