13 



cool climate of the Blue Mountains in Jamaica at 4,000 feet are 

 described by Mr. Morris {Native and other Fibre Plants, 1884, p. 38) 

 as having " leaves 20 feet long ; the stem about 8 feet in circumference 

 at the base, with a height of '60 feet ; the total weight of a single 

 plant was not less than a quarter of a ton." An illustration of the 

 Jamaica plant is given in the Gardeners' Chronicle, 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 is a very ornamental plant having a noble and majestic habit. The 

 fruit is useless for purposes of food. As the plant produces no offsets 

 and perishes after fruiting it is propagated entirely from seed. 



*2. M. ventricosa, Welw. Whole plant 8 to 10 feet high. Stem much 

 swollen, 4 feet in diameter at the base. Leaves oblanceolate-oblong, 4 

 to 5 feet long, thick in texture, with a pale-red midrib. Differs from 

 other species of this section by its entire petal. Fruit like that of M. 

 Ensete. Seeds large, dull black with a broad hollow at the hilum. 

 Distribution .- — found in Angola, province of Pungo Andongo, in rocky 

 places near rivulets 10° S. lat. by Wehvitsch. M. africana, Bull. Cat., is 

 probably this species in a young state ; as also a plant lately received at 

 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 linear-oblong, 1-1^ feet long, 2^-4 in. broad. Flowers 10 in a 

 row. Seeds as large as those of M. Ensete, glossy, black, not tubercled. 

 Dried specimens only received from Mr. John Buchanan, C.M.G., from 

 the Shire Highlands, East Africa, 1885. 



4. M. livingstoniana, Kirk. Stem conical, twice the height of a man, 

 2-3 feet diameter at the base. Leaves narrow oblong, crowded, as long 

 as the trunk, with a short, broad-clasping, deeply channelled petiole. 

 Fruit many seeded 4 inches long. Seeds globose, angled by pressure in 

 the lower half, ^ inch diameter, dull brown tubercled with a depressed 

 hilum, surrounded by prominent edges. Described from sketches, notes, 

 and seeds brought from south-east tropical Africa by Sir John Kirk, 

 G.C.M.G. Distribution .-—Between 12°iand 19° S. lat. in region of Lake 

 Nyassa. A necklace of similar seeds is in 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. 



5. M. proboscidea. Oliver, in Hooker's Icon. Plant, t. 1777. Trunk 

 dilated at the base, reaching 1-5 times the height of a man. Leaves 

 narrow oblong, very large, narrowed to the base ; free petiole, short, 

 deeply 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 short with two orbicular outer lobes, and 

 a large linear central cusp. Seeds turbinate, black, glossy, \ inch 

 broad and long, with only a small hollow at the hilum. Distribution .— 

 Known from seeds and four photographs in the Kew Museum procured 

 by Sir John Kirk, G.C.M.G., from the Hills of Ukami, about 100 miles 

 inland from Zanzibar. Kew Bull., 1894, pp. 225-226. 



