M U S A C E M. 



627 



land or this country except as a colouring ingredient in compound prepara- 

 tions. It has some reputation in exanthematous diseases, as a means of 

 developing the eruption, when it is tardy in its appearance. It has also been 

 employed in nervous affections. 



Group XLVII. — Amomales. 



Order 110.— MUSACEjE.— Agardh. 



Flowers spathaceous. Perianth 6-parted, adherent, petaloid, in two rows, more or less 

 irregular. Stamens inserted upon the middle of the divisions, some always becoming 

 abortive. Anthers linear, introrse, 2-celled, often with a membranous crest. Ovary in- 

 ferior, 3-celled, many-seeded, rarely 3-seeded. Ovules anatropal. Style simple. Stigma 

 usually 3-lobed. Fruit either a 3-celled capsule, dehiscing longitudinally, or succulent 

 and indehiscent. Seeds sometimes surrounded by hairs, integument mostly crustaceous. 

 Embryo orthotropal, oblong, linear, or mushroom-shaped. 



These are stemless or nearly stemless plants, but the leaves sheathing at 

 base, sometimes form a spurious trunk, which is often of some magnitude ; 

 expansion of the leaves separated from the petiole by a swelling or tumour, and 

 having fine parallel veins running regularly from the midrib to the margins. 

 They are inhabitants of the tropics, Cape of Good Hope, Japan, &c. Although 

 none of them are used in medicine, they require notice on account of their 

 great importance as articles of food in tropical climates, especially certain 

 species of Musa, known as Bananas and Plantains. These plants form the 

 principal sustenance of the inhabitants of warm climates, and some idea of 

 their fruitfulness may be drawn from the statement of Humboldt that the 

 same space of ground that will grow thirty-three pounds of wheat, or ninety- 

 nine pounds of potatoes, will afford four thousand pounds of Bananas. 



Fig. 282. 



Fig. 283. 



M. sapientum. 



M. paradisica. 



They are very imperfectly known in an uncultivated state, and are 

 propagated by suckers, the fruit being seedless ; but at the same time 

 numerous varieties are known. According to Boussingault, the Banana 

 contains Sugar, Gum, Malic and Pectic acids, Albumen, &c. The two 

 species now recognised are M. sapientum or Banana, and M. paradisica or 

 Plantain ; some botanists, however, are of opinion that these are merely 



