46 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



florets, each of which, is hidden at first beneath its own pe- 

 rianth, the whole together strongly resembling the heart of 

 some animal suspended, both in colour and shape; as the 

 florets of the base become perfect, the fruit swells out, and 

 the other florets are pushed forward, until the stalk on which 

 they are borne often reaches the length of three feet, and 

 bears an enormous number of fruit, sometimes as many as 

 150 to 170 or ISO, weighing from sixty to seventy pounds. 

 Each fruit is about six inches long; it is straight, and 

 about an inch in diameter, rather shorter and thicker in the 

 banana than in the plantain. \Yhen ripe, the inner portion 

 consists of a rich sweet pulp, of the colour and consistence 

 of marrow, with the flavour of a fine pear. There are 



"Plantains, the golden and the green." 



Those which are brought to us are gathered unripe, but, 

 upon being kept long enough, acquire a rich golden-yellow 

 colour. It has been stated that they do not produce good 

 fruit under hothouse cultivation in this country ; this how- 

 ever is not quite true : Henry Winch, Esq., of Seacombe, in 

 Cheshire, near Liverpool, some time since, had a plantain- 

 house in which the fruit was ripened in great perfection. 

 The imported ones are rarely worth eating, and are so little 



