PLANTS ALLIED TO THE BANANA 261 



ties, which, if not actually true hybrids, are of equal 

 practical importance, have been raised in Belgian gardens."* 



S. augusta is a noble plant, 10 ft. high, with white calyx 

 and petals. 



S.farinosa is 4 ft. high with purple and yellow flowers. 



S. nicolai is a superb plant, growing to a height of 25 ft., 

 with whitish calyx and blue petals ; the spathes green and 

 purplish, growing to as long as 1 J ft. It is considered by 

 some to be only a variety of S. augusta. 



S. regincz is the most magnificent species of the genus, 

 although it is only 5 ft. high. The flowers are orange and 

 purple, large, and produced in great abundance. 



S. parvifolia juncea is 4 ft. high, with purple and yellow 

 flowers, but the blade of the leaf is wanting, or is reduced 

 to narrow margins ; the leaf -stalks resemble the stems of 

 large rushes. 



Heliconia is nearly allied to Musa, and H. bihai is recog- 

 nized as a " wild plantain " by the natives of the West 

 Indies and South America, where it grows wild. This 

 species is a grand and striking foliage plant, well worth 

 cultivating, and it is known now throughout the tropics. 

 It is cultivated in the open in South Florida and along the 

 Gulf of Mexico ; and even when killed by frost, it readily 

 springs again from its strong root-stock. Being often 15 ft. 

 high, it requires a large house when cultivated in hot- 

 houses in temperate climates. The flower-sheaths are 

 very large, scarlet-coloured ; the flowers are red or orange. 

 The form aureo-striata is very handsome ; the leaves are 

 beautifully striped along the midrib and veins with yellow, 

 the stems are also striped with yellow. Another form, 

 illustris, is like the last, but the midrib and veins are 

 marked with pink. The form rubricaulis has more red, 

 the leaf -stalk being bright vermilion. 



The genus differs from Musa chiefly in the arrangement 

 of the flowers, and in the dry, three-celled, three-seeded 

 fruit. 



By studying flowers belonging to these genera, especially 

 * Cultivated Plants." By F. W. Burbidge. 1877. 



