213 
py. 376. Ainslie. Mat. Ind. lL. p. 316. Rox, Cor. 3. ¢. 278. 
Khela.—The common Plantain; in season all the year round, aml 
deserving of Thomson’s praise. 
*§ The pride 
Of vegetable life, beyond what e’er 
The Poets imag’d in the *‘ Golden Age” 
Eve first saw Adam ‘‘ undera Platan” 
& What could I do, 
But follow straight, invisibly thus led? 
Till I espy’d the fair indeed and tall, 
Under a platan” 
Paradise Lost. Book 4. 
The plantain is said to have the peculiar property of cooling the air where 
it is grown to any extent. The stems are used in Siam for purifying Su- 
gar;—an elegant substitute for the clay of the West Indies. (Dr. Gibson.) 
A green fruited variety is cultivated about Bassein, and a red one in 
Bombay Gardens: 
1495. M. Textitis? Marsden’s Sumatra. Eusatte? Bruce’s Travels. 7. ¢. 
8 andQ. M. troglodytarum Sykes. 
Ran-khela—Cowdera.—An almost stemless plant which dies away to the 
ground every season. 
Common on the Ghauts and hilly parts of the Concan during the rains. 
The leaves are used for thatching houses, and for plates by the uatives. 
They strip the bulb or stem of leaves and boil and eat it. It is also dried 
and pounded into akind of flower of which cakes are made. (Mr. Davis, C. 8.) 
Dr. Gibson mentions, that owing to the scarcity of rain last season, the poor 
people about Hurrychundarghur, have ran short of grain and subsisted en- 
tirely for the last 2 montns (May 9, 1839;) on the inner rind and heart of 
the bulb of this plant. 
687. URANTIA, L. Hexandria Monogynia. 
The name of one of the Muses ‘‘Descend from heaven, Urania by that 
name. If rightly thou art called’—(Milton) Inappropriately applied by 
Schreber to this plant, on acconnt of its connection with Musa, surely not 
the Freedman of Augustus.—Ravenala. Lam. Ill. ¢. 222. 
1496. U. Speciosa. Rox. Flora.3. p.114. Ravenala Madagascariensis, 
Sonn, Voy. ¢. 124, 125 and 126. Jacq. Schoenb. 1. ¢. 93. 
Plantain leaved Urania.—A very elegant tree with leaves like the Plan- 
tain, but with the solid trunk of a Palm. The leaves are very large and 
form a semicircular head, like an open fan. Parell Garden—It is a native of 
Madagascar.—The fruit is of a beautiful blue colour. The juice of itis 
used for dying, 
688. HELICONTA, v. Pentandria Monogynia. 
Helicon.—Mountain of the Muses; so named on account of its connection 
with Musa;—another inconsistency, as the Freedman of Angustus is said to 
give name to Musa, 
1497. H. Boccinata. Rox. Flora. 1. p. 670. Rumph. Amb. 5. ¢. 62, f. 2- 
A stemless plant with large lanceolate glossy leaves from 2 to 4 feet long 
and aboutone broad, with sheathing petioles from 3 to 6 feet long.—Native 
of India aquosa. intd, by N, in 1833, 
