278 THE BANANA 



long, 1 in. broad, becoming blackish, pulp scanty, yellow. 

 Seeds ovoid, black, J in. long, J in. broad. Katanga. 

 Found only at the base of the white ant hills. 



63. M. Arnoldiana De Wild. (Bull. Soc. Etud. Colon. 

 Brux., viii. 339, 1901). Plant 12 to 15 ft. high, not sucker- 

 ing. Leaves 7 ft. long. Inflorescence drooping, short. 

 Flowers three to seven in each row. Free petal three- 

 toothed, about | in. long. Fruit nearly 4 in. long. Seeds 

 12-16, about | in. long. Congo Free State. Seeds used 

 as a fetish. 



64. M. Laurentii De Wild. (Miss. Laurent, 371, i. 130 

 and figures 61, 62). Leaves with a green midrib. Bracts 

 14 in. long, 4J in. broad, elliptical, narrowing towards 

 apex. Perianth three-lobed, 1 J-l J in. long ; free petal rather 

 more than J in. long, rounded at apex with awn-like 

 mucro. Flowers 18-23 in two rows under each bract, 

 nine to thirteen on the inner row, and nine to ten on the 

 outer row. Fruit 4-5 in. long. Stanleyville, Congo. 



65. M. Bagshawei Rendle and Greves (Journ. Bot., 

 xlviii. 169, t. 506, 1910). Plant 16 to 18 ft. high. Trunk 

 6j ft. in circumference 6 in. above the ground. Leaves 

 with a narrow red edging and red midrib, 11 f ft. long. 

 Inflorescence drooping, 2| ft. long. Bracts dull red, 

 acuminate, 11 in. long, 6 in. broad. Flowers 17-19, in 

 two rows, under each bract. Perianth three-lobed, about 

 1 J in. long ; free petal three-toothed, median tooth awn- 

 like, lateral rounded, rather more than J in. long. Fruit 

 light orange with a little darker pulp, 4J-5 in. long. Seeds 

 thirty, black, shining. Uganda. Very near to M . Laurentii. 



66. M. gigantea Kuntze. Plant nearly 30 ft. high, not 

 suckering. Inflorescence 10 ft. long. Bracts green, ovate- 

 oblong. Flowers white, 20-40 to each bract. Fruit 2 in. 

 long, angled. Seeds very small. 



M. Brownii F. v. Muell, quoted by Pucci in Bollet. Soc. 

 Tose. Ort. 9 1906, p. 296, and M. imperialis Hort. Vilmorin, 

 p. 299 of same vol., are without description. The former 

 has been referred to the section Rhodochlamys and the 

 latter to Physocaulis. 



