16 



The rhizome is 2-3 inches in diameter and crowned with successive 

 frills of the lower persistent leaf-sheath. The small petioled leaves 

 rise almost directly from the ground. The spike is erect, very dense, 

 with prominent bracts. The fruit is dry, pubescent on the outside, 

 hence the name, and contains 4-6 seeds. This interesting plant is 

 regarded by Franchet as the type of a new section called Musella. It 

 is remarkable for the absence of a stem, the pubescent character of 

 its fruit, the dense form of the inflorescence, the persistency of all the 

 bracts, and the complete absence of pulp in the fruit. The Abbe Delavay 

 discovered the plant in 1885 in the mountainous regions of Yunnan 

 on the rocks of Loko-chan and Che-tong near Tapin-tze, at an 

 elevation of 4,000 feet. He states that it is easy of cultivation, and 

 he has grown it in his garden for four years, but had not flowered it. 

 Journ. de Bot., vol. iii. (1889), pp. 329-331. 



*9. M. Cavendishii, Lamb. M. chinensis. Sweet (name only) ; North 

 Gallery, Nos. 225, 816 ; M. sinensis, Sagot. Stoloniferous. Whole 

 plant 4-6 feet high ; leaves 6-8 inches in a dense rosette, spreading, 

 oblong, 2-3 feet long, about a foot broad, much rounded at the base, 

 rather glaucous ; petiole short, stout, deeply channelled, with two broad 

 crisped green edges. Rachis short, stout. Spike dense, oblong, 

 1-2 feet long, drooping ; bracts red-brown or dark brown, ovate, the 

 lower 6 inches long, the upper 3-4 inches ; male flowers and their 

 bracts persistent. Petal ovate, entire. Fruit as many as 200-250 to a 

 panicle, oblong, 6-angled, slightly curved, 4-5 inches long, above 

 1^ inches diameter, obtuse, narrowed gradually to the sessile base, 

 seedless, edible, with a rather thick skin and delicate fragrant flesh. 

 Distribution ; — Native of Southern China. Cultivated in Mauritius, and 

 introduced to England in 1827. This is now extensively cultivated in all 

 tropical and sub-tropical countries and known as the "Chinese or Dwarf" 

 banana. It furnishes a large proportion of the bananas usually sold in 

 this country. The wild seed- bearing form is not yet known. M. 

 Massoni, Sagot (name only), supposed to be wild at the Gaboon and 

 cultivated in Bourbon, is said to be like M. Cavendishii, but with 

 slightly different fruit. The interesting story of the introduction of 

 the Chinese banana to the islands of Polynesia is thus told by Seemann 

 {Flora Vitiensis, p. 289) : — 



"An important addition to their stock of bananas the Fijians received 

 in the Vudi ni %)apalagi (i.e., foreign banana), our Musa chinensis or 

 Cavendishii, which the late John Williams, better known as the 

 Martyr of Eromanga, brought in a wardian case from the Duke of 

 Devonshire's seat at Chatsworth to the Samoan or Navigator Islands, 

 whence again, in 1848, the Rev. George Pritchard carried it to the 

 Tongan or Friendly Islands, as well as to the Fijis. Its introduction 

 has put an effectual stop to those famines which previously to this event 

 were occasionally experienced in some of these islands. Never attaining 

 any greater height than 6 feet, and being of robust growth, the Cavendish 

 banana is but little affected by the violent winds which cause such 

 damage amongst plantations of the taller kinds of Musa ; and this ad- 

 vantage, coupled with its abundant yield and the fine flavour of its fruit, 

 have induced the natives to propagate it to such an extent that, not- 

 withstanding its comparatively recent introduction, the Vudi ni papalagi 

 numbers amongst the most common bananas of the country." A sample 

 of fibre from the stem of M. Cavendishii is in the Kew Museum, 

 from Jamaica, prepared by Nathaniel Wilson. 



10. M. nana, Lour. Trunk cylindrical, 5 feet long, \ foot diameter, 

 leaves oblong-ovate, 3 feet high ; spike short, recurved ; flowers all 



