ZIXGIBERACE^. 267 



under their shade wliilc partaking of the fruit ; hence, the fruit of the wise. 

 The name paradlslaca arises from the story that the banana of this species 

 was the forbidden fruit of I^aradise. The English or common name, banana, 

 is very obscure in its origin as well as its signitieation, but is supposed to be a 

 Portuguese corruption of some native name. 'I'he word plantain is from the 

 Latin /dantuyo, applied on account of its broad, spreading leaf. 



/listori/. — Many things point to Asia as the home of the banana, vet it is 

 claimed that it had reached the western coast of JSouth America Ijefore the 

 arrival of the Europeans. It has also been suggested that it is indigenous to 

 America, but the weight of history makes it an introduced plant ; hence we 

 are constrained to reckon the banana among the food plants of Asia. It was 

 unknown to the ancient Egyptians, but is said to have been made known to 

 the Greeks by Alexander's expedition iuto ludia. 



Cultivation. — The banana has been very properly pointed out as an 

 illustration of the wonderful fertility of tropical regions. In the temperate 

 zones a fruit-tree requires years to mature fruit ; but the dweller between the 

 tropics takes a sucker from a banana-plant, places it in the soil on the river 

 bank, and at the end of a few months gathers a crop of delicious fruit. 



Use. — The banana is highly prized as a dessert. The natives of the tropics 

 slice and fry it ; it is baked in ovens, and is dried and ground into flour, of 

 which bread and cakes are made. Two intoxicating drinks known as banana 

 tcine and banana beer are made from the juice by the Africans. 



As to the economic value of the plantain and banana, they stand ne.xt to 

 wheat and rice as food plants, Simmons, a recent English writer on tropical 

 food plants, says : " The l)anana is to thousands of the dwellers of the tropics 

 what rice is to the Hindoo, rye to the Muscovite, and wheat to the English- 

 man ; it is their main dependance, in more senses than one, their staff of life, 

 grown everywhere in small (juantities throughout the tropics." Again he 

 says : " Among the splendid, varied, and profuse vegetation with which tropi- 

 cal countries abound, . . . the magnificent herbaceous plant, the plantain, 

 attracts particular notice." 



The individuals of this family rank high among endogenous herbs. Tiieir 

 gigantic size, the magnificence of their foliage, the abundance and character 

 of their fruit, the grandeur of their flowers, give them the very highest 

 place among stemless endogens. The banana is the queen among ornamental 

 herbs, and the household god of the laborer's cottage. 



The structure of the .•^tem furnishes a fiber, of which cordage, mats, and a 

 coarse doth and paper are manufactured. See Mum tertili.'i. 



The Chinese use the top of the stem for its juice, which also f4)rms an impor- 

 tant ingredient in the manufacture of ink. The pith of the stem and the top 

 of the spike and the young shoots are edilile. Humboldt estimated that an 

 acre will yield 134.900 pounds of food. This far exceeds the product of any 

 of the tuber-bearing plants of the temperate zones. 



3. M. textilis. Xees. (Manilln ) This species of musa is treated separately 

 because its characteristics are so different from the others. First, it is larger 

 than any other, rising to the height of 30 to .'lO feet. All tlie musas produce 

 fiber, but the M. sapientum, .M violacea, and M. textilis furnish the best (juality. 

 and most of it. 



Gencjraphi/. — The musa textilis is, like the other species, a tropical or sul)- 

 tropical plant. It grows ])est on the slopes of volcanic mountains, among the 

 larger trees that usually cover such declivities. The fiber of commerce, 



