264 THE BANANA 



usually rounded at the base. Inflorescence drooping, often 

 4-5 ft. long. Male flowers deciduous. Bracts dull violet, 

 more or less -glaucous outside, the lower 1-1 J ft. long, the 

 upper J ft. ; often red inside, several expanded at once, 

 the edges of the upper not involute. Free petal nearly 

 half as long as perianth. Fruit somewhat three-angled, 

 3-8 in. long, yellow, eaten uncooked or cooked. 

 " Banana." 



Subspecies M. paradisiaca L. Male flowers and bracts 

 less deciduous. Fruit cylindrical, J-l ft. long, with firmer 

 and less saccharine pulp, eaten cooked. " Plantain." 



Subspecies M. seminifera Lour. Fruits small, oblong, 

 full of seeds, not edible, yellowish or greenish. This 

 apparently represents the wild seed-bearing form ; it 

 extends in a wild state from Behar and the eastern 

 Himalayas to the Malay and Philippine Islands. 



Subspecies M. troglodytarum L. Inflorescence erect in 

 lower half and drooping in upper half. Fruits small, 

 crowded on the lower erect portion, oblong-round, reddish 

 yellow, containing rudimentary seeds ; flesh sweet, yellow. 

 Wild in India, Ceylon, and the Malay islands ; the favourite 

 food of elephants. 



2. M. acuminata Colla. Leaves 5-6 ft. long, glaucous 

 beneath, triangular at the base. Inflorescence drooping. 

 Male flowers deciduous. Bracts violet, only one of those 

 of the female flowers opened at once and revolute, those 

 of the male clusters involute at the edge. Free petal 

 nearly as long as the perianth. Fruits in four to six 

 clusters of 10-12 each, oblong, beaked, 2-4 in. long, 

 1-1 in. in diameter ; skin not easily peeled off, flesh 

 sweet. Seeds dull black, angled by pressure, J in. in 

 diameter. Common in Java and the other Malay islands, 

 extending eastward to New Guinea. Kurz says that a 

 large proportion of the bananas which are cultivated in 

 the Malay Archipelago are derived from it, and that its 

 best varieties are superior to all those derived from 

 M. sapientum in quality and delicacy. The typical 

 M. acuminata is wild, and has fruits full of seed. From 



