DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES OF MUSA 267 



" Cultivated for the inner portion of the trunk, which is 

 used as food." Near M. glauca. 



10. M. discolor Horan. Trunk slender, 6-10 ft. long, 

 suckering. Leaves narrow-oblong, smaller and firmer in 

 texture than in the banana, glaucous, tinged with red or 

 violet beneath when young. Inflorescence drooping ; 

 bracts reddish, the upper only persisting ; male flowers 

 deciduous. Fruit cylindrical, angled, rather curved, rather 

 dry, reddish violet, very palatable, with a violet pulp with 

 a rather musky scent. Wild in New Caledonia (native 

 name Colabonte), yielding textile fibre, which is used for 

 fish-baskets, &c. It is widely spread in cultivation. 



11. M. Basjoo Baker. Trunk 6-9 ft. long, 6-8 in. in 

 diameter, suckering. Leaves 6-9 ft. long, lJ-2 ft. broad. 

 Inflorescence 1-1 ft. long. Perianth whitish, 2 in. long, 

 free petal nearly as long. Fruit oblong, three-angled, 

 3 in. long. Liu Kiu Archipelago and cultivated in 

 Southern Japan for its fibre. It is as hardy as M. Ensete. 



12. M. Martini (Rev. Hort. Belg.). Has the habit of 

 the banana with bright rose-red flowers. Leaves firm in 

 texture, bright green above, glaucous beneath, with reddish 

 veins. Said to be more hardy than M. Ensete. Brought 

 from the Canary Islands. 



13. M. textilis Nee. Plant attaining a height of 13-22 ft., 

 suckering. Leaves smaller and firmer in texture than 

 in the banana, with large brown spots, rather glaucous 

 beneath. Inflorescence drooping, shorter than the leaves. 

 Male flowers deciduous. Perianth five-lobed, about Ij in. 

 long, the outer lobes with a thread-like horn near apex, 

 obscurely three-angled, curved, 2-3 in. long, 1 in. in 

 diameter, not edible, but filled with seed. Seeds black, 

 in. in diameter. 



Variety M. amboinensis Miquel. Not so tall and 

 inflorescence not so drooping. Fruit as long as a man's 

 finger, black at maturity. Philippine Islands, where it is 

 called " Abaca," and is used in the manufacture of Manila 

 hemp. 



14. M. Tikap Warb. Very near M. textilis, but with 



