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Indies, from which is obtained the fiber known as Manila hemp. 
M. zebrina, with purple-marked young leaves, and the tropical 
Asian M. rosacea, with rose-colored bracts, are both in the 
collection. M. coccinea, from China, conspicuous on account of 
the bright red bracts of the erect flower cluster, is now in flower. 
M. Ensete, the Abyssinian banana, reproduces itself by seeds, 
making no “suckers.” 
Bthai, or sometimes known as Heliconia, is another genus of 
the banana family. It is an American type, if we exclude those 
forms from the tropical Old World which differ so widely in 
habit and general appearance, and which probably do not belong 
to this genus. An example of this is Bihai geniculata, described 
a few years ago from plants in the Garden of horticultural origin. 
Bihai aureo-striata, from the Solomon Islands, and B. illustris 
rubricaulis, a native of the Pacific Islands, both have richly 
colored foliage and are highly decorative. 
Other plants forming part of this collection belong to the 
ginger family, Zingiberaceae. Prominent among these, not for 
its size, for it is much smaller than many of the others, but for its 
economic importance, is the ginger plant, Zingiber Zingiber, 
of which there are several plants. It is the dried rootstocks of 
this plant which form the commercial ginger. Anther plant 
now in flower, with a similar fragrance to the crushed leaves, 
is the Chinese ginger, Alpinia officinarum, a native of southern 
China. f the same genus is the shell flower, A. nutans, of 
the East Indies, now bearing its nodding flower clusters which 
are of striking beauty, the outer parts of the flower being white, 
delightfully flushed and tipped with rose, while the lip is charm- 
ingly marked with yellow and red. In marked contrast to this 
is A. vittata, of the South Sea Islands, with its variegated foliage 
of white and green. Hedychium coronarium, the East Indian 
garland flower, with deliciously fragrant white flowers, and H. 
Gardnerianum, with yellow flowers, add another genus of the 
ginger family. The genus Costus also belongs to this family, and 
is native in both the Old World and the New. Many of these, 
on account of the marked spiral arrangement of the leaves, are 
known as spiral-flags. The Brazilian species, C. igneus, has flame- 
