578 MUSACEvE. 



ORDER CCXXVII.— MUSACE^, Agardh— Lindl. Nat. Syst. p. 326. 



THE BANANA TRIBE. 



Stemless plants, or nearly so, by Lindl. referred to 4 genera. Of these, 

 Spreng. syst. and Loud. Hort. Brit, new edit, enumerate 12 species for S. 

 America, and the West Indies ; 10 for S. Africa ; 2 for China ; 1 for Mada- 

 gascar ; and 1 for Mauritius. — In the E. Indies have been discovered 1 2 

 species of Musa ; and 1 of Heliconia ; — all except Musa nepalensis, natives 

 of Tropical India. — Plantains are well known to every-body. 



A. Heliconie^, a. Rich. {Endl. gen. pi. p. 228.) 

 Heliconia, L. {Spreng syst. \,p. 524, No. 956 ; — Endl. gen.pl. p. 228.) 



1. buccinata, Roxb. (/. ind. 1, p. 670 ; ed. Carey, 2, p. 494 ; — Spreng. 

 syst. c.p. p. 109 ; — J. Grah. Cat. B. pi. p- 2l3. — H. indica. Lam. ; 

 partly. — Folium buccinatum, Rumph. 5, t. 62,/. 2.) 2/.. Moluccas. 

 Fl. largish, pale-yellow, H. S. {Roxb.) In the garden here it has not 

 fl. during the last 12 years. 



2. brasiliensis, Hook. {Exot. fl. t. 190; — Spreng. syst. c. p. p. 109.) ^. 

 ' Brazil. Introduced in 1841. 



3. bicolor, Benth. % Brazil. 



B. Ravenale^. 

 (Uraniese, Rich.; Endl. gen. pi. p. 228.) 

 Strelitzia, Banks. {Spreng. syst. \, p. 524, No. 955 ; — Endl. l. c.) 



1. ovata, Dryand. {Spreng. syst. 1, p. 833. — B. Reginae, Curt. B. M. 3, 

 t. 119, 20, not Ait.) 2/. C. G. H. Fl. very large, bright orange, with 

 a beautifully azure nectary, C. S. ; fr. 0. 

 2.juncea, Lk. (S. parvifolia, Dryand. Q, juncea, B. Reg. 6, t. 516.) % 

 C. G. H. Fl. very large, orange-coloured, with the nectary bluish- 

 purple, Oct. ; fr. 0. 

 Musa, Tournef. {Spreng. syst. 1, p. 524, No. 954 ; — Endl. gen. pi 1, p. 

 228.) Plantain Tree. 



1 . paradisiaca, L. {Spreng. syst. 1, p. 833. — M. paradisiaca, j3. sapi- 

 entum, Bertol. — M. sapientum, Roxb. fl. ind. 1, p. 663; ed. Carey, 

 2. p. 484 ; Coram. 3, t. 275 ;— /. Grah. Cat. B. pi. p. 2\2.—Rheed. 

 I, t. 12, 13, 14; — Rumph. 1, t. 60.) ^5i1 Kula. Cultivated Plantain. 

 ?t5T ^«r1 Ram-Kula. Wild Plantain. Fl. large, yellowish- whitish, and 

 fr. throughout the year. A native of the E. Indies, cultivated every 

 where within the Tropics. The numerous varieties we have in vain 

 tried to put into some order. The attempt made for this purpose, in 

 Schult. tom. 8, p. 1289-92, appears to us only to have increased the 

 confusion. 



2. rosacea, Jacq. {Hort. Schonbr. 4, t. 445 ; — Spreng. I. c. and c. p. 

 p. 109;— B. Cab. t. 615; — B. Reg. 9, t. 706, A. B.—M. ornata. 

 Roxb. fl. ind. 1, p. 666 ; ed. Carey, 2. p. 488.) % Chittagong, &c. 



