241 
cool climate of the Blue Mountains in Jamaica at 4,000 feet are 
described by Mr. Morris (Native and a Fibre Plants, 1884, p. 38) 
-. having “leaves 20 feet long; the stem about 8 feet in circumference 
the base, with a height of 30 rag the total weight of a single 
pant was not less than a quarter of a ton." An illustration of the 
maica plant is given in the Gardeners’ arouse 1881 [1], p. 435. 
This species is well adapted for sub-tropical countries such as South 
California, Florida, Algeria, and Canary Islands, and is often put out for the 
summer in the London Parks. When established in sheltered situations 
it i he 
nt p 
and perishes after fruiting it is propagated entirely from seed 
*2. M. ventricosa, Welw. Whole plant 8 to jo feet high. Stem much 
swollen, 4 feet in diameter at the base. Leav oblanceolate-oblong, 4 
to 5 feet long, thick in texture, with a pale- dod midrib. Differs from 
other species s of this section by its entire petal. Fruit iike that of M. 
Ensete. Seeds large, aa black with a broad hollow at the hilum. 
Distribution :—Foun ngola, province of Pungo Andongo, in i 
laces near rivulets 10° s. lat. “by Welwitsch. M. africana, Bull. Cat 
probably this species in a young state ; as also a plant lately received a 
Kew from St. Petersburgh under the same name. Seeds of this species 
are in the Kew Museum. 
3. M. Buchanani, Baker. Nearly allied to M. Ensete, but the bracts 
are price 1-14 feet long, 21—4 in. broad. Flowers 10 in a 
r eeds as large as those of M. Ensete, ; glossy, black, not Tg le 
Dried specimens only received rem eet Joh n Buchanan, C.M.G., 
the Shiré Highlands, East Africa 
. M. livingstoniana, Kirk. Stem — twice the height of a man, 
4-3 feet diameter at the base. Leaves narrow oblong, crowded, as long 
as the trunk, with a ig ‘broad-clasping, deeply channelled petiole. 
Fruit many seeded 4 inc s lo ong. ls globose, angled by pressure in 
the lower half, 4 inch düiseter, dull bros tubercled with a depressed 
hilum, surrounded by prominent e edges. Described from sketches, notes, 
and seeds brought from south-east tropieal Africa by Sir John Kirk 
G.C.M.G. Distribution :—Between 12?and 19° S. lat. in region of Lake 
Nyassa. A necklace of similar seeds isin the Kew Museum sent from 
Sierra Leone by Barter. This species has once been under cultivation 
at Kew, but is probably unknown in Europe at the present time. Kew 
Bull. 1894, pp. 225-226. 
M. proboscidea, Oliver, in Hooker's Icon. Plant, t. 1777. ‘Trunk 
dilated at the base, reaching 4-5 times the height of a man. Leaves 
w-oblong, very large, narrowed to the base; free petiole, short, 
acr channelled. Spike finally drooping, very much elongated, 
nearly as long as the stem; bracts broad, ovate, obtuse, about 
4 times as long as the flowers; flowers in two close rows of about 
12 in a row. Petal very aioe with two orbicular cuter lobes, and 
a large linear central cusp. Seeds turbinate, black, giossy, y inch 
broad | and long, with only a small hollow at the bi lum. Distribution : 
Known from seeds and four photographs in the Kew Min procure éd 
by Sir John Kirk, G.C.M.G., from the Hills of Ukami, about 100 miles 
inland from Zanzibar. Kew ' Bull., loc. cit. 
