DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 245 



Muruva-dul (Oeyl.). Marsdenia tenachsima. 

 Musa basjoo. The Banana of Japan. 



Exogen. Musacea 1 . 



The species of this genus abound in the tropical and subtropical regions of both 

 hemispheres, and supply the fruits known :is the banana and the plantain. The 

 genus includes one of the most important commercial fibers, the manila hemp, M. 

 tertilis, which is described in its appropriate place. M. basjoo is cultivated in Japan 

 where its fiber is also produced commercially. 



Structural Fiber. — Beautiful examples were received from the Japan court, W. 

 C. E., 1893, together with specimens of the native cloths made from it. The liber is 

 a light salmon in color; is 4 to 5 feet long, bright and lustrous, and possesses fair 

 strength. Regarding the specimens of cloth, I learn that the forms labeled " Yec- 

 higo chijimi (a) and Okinawa jyofu (b) are used for summer dresses of the higher 

 classes of Japanese. Bashofu (c) is not used for cloth, but for ornamental bordering 

 of " Kakemo," and in place of wall paper, etc." 



Economic considerations. — In the descriptive catalogue of the exhibit it is 

 stated that the banana is only grown commercially in Okinawa prefecture, " though 

 it is widely distributed in the districts in the temperate zone where they are planted 

 for ornamenting gardens only, accordingly, the annual produce of the fiber is not so 

 great. The fiber is white in color and coarse to the touch. It is woven into cloth 

 known by the name "Bashofu," which is highly esteemed for undershirts for sum- 

 mer, as it is lighter by about three-fourths to three-fifths of the weight of hemp and 

 flax, and does not stick to the skin when perspiring." 



Musa sapientum. The Common Banana. 



This species and M. paradisiaca are, respectively, the banana and plantain of trop- 

 ical America, Asia, and Africa, in which countries they have been cultivated from 

 remote times, and where they are especially prized for their fruit. This article of 

 food is so well known, however, both in its fresh state and as plantain meal, that 

 its importance to the natives of the tropics need not be dilated upon here. These 

 species abound everywhere in tropical America, from Florida, in the United States, 

 through Central America and the West Indies to subtropical South America. While 

 some writers have considered the banana and plantain as distinct species, the later 

 botanical authorities as a rule have accepted the species M. sapientum as embracing 

 both forms. The number of cultivated races, however, which bear fruits differing 

 widely in appearance and quality is very large. 



Structural Fiber. — The Department collection is rich in specimens of banana 

 fiber received in the past few years from many localities, though I do not know that 

 the fiber is at present produced in commercial quantity anywhere in the three Amer- 

 icas. The fiber from the stalks of Florida-grown plants that I have extracted by 

 machinery is very weak. Specimens from farther southward are better, though still 

 do not approach in strength the fiber of manila hemp. In Mexico and Costa Rica, 

 M. sapientum is known as platano, but in Venezuela, according to Dr. Ernst, M. para- 

 disiaea is known as the platano and M. sapientum as the guineo. In the New South 

 Wales Catalogue (Phil. Int. Exh., 1876), it is stated that "Musa sapientum, so gen- 

 erally planted in New South Wales for its fruit, yields a fiber second only in value 

 of its kind to that of the manila hemp, which is obtained from Musa textilis." 



Speaking of M. paradisiaca, Forbes Royle says there is no doubt that the large cul- 

 tivated plantain of India contains a considerable quantity of strong fiber, in the 

 same way "that the yellow plantain does in Jamaica," and it seems worthy of inquiry 

 whether the wild and useless plantain growing at the foot of the Himalayas "may 

 not yield a stronger fiber than any of the cultivated kinds." A very full and com- 

 plete account of this industry is given in Simmonds's Commercial Products of the 

 Vegetable Kingdom by a correspondent in Jamaica. The plantain may be considered 

 a valuable plant for paper making, and its .fiber might possibly be extracted for this 



