quite recurved pointing upwards parallel with the rachis and over- 

 lapping each other. Again, the fruits may be loosely arranged, hardly 

 touching one another ; or they may be compactly or even densely 

 crowded together so as to completely hide the rachis. The Jamaica 

 banana, for instance, has the fruits "compactly but not densely arranged, 

 recurved, almost parallel with the axis." In the Surinam banana 

 the fruits " are laxly arranged, the first series somewhat re-curved, the 

 rest spreading nearly at right angles to the axis." In the Chinese or 

 dwarf banana the fruits "are lax, spreading outwards, hardly over- 

 lapping." The plantains (the vegetable) have generally fewer and 

 looser fruits. These may be "laxly spreading outwards" or "curled 

 upwards like a horn." The individual fruits are usually larger than in 

 the banana, the pulp firm and the colour j-ellowish-green, or yellow 

 when ripe, not red. 



The fruit clusters are called "hands." Each hand may vary from 

 3 to 10, or in exceptional instances to 18, on each spike. Again, a 

 hand may consist of 8 to 18 single fruits or " fingers." The total 

 number of fruits produced on a " bunch " may be as low as 24, or as 

 high as 250 or more. The weight of a bunch may be from 30 to 90 

 pounds. 



After fruiting the stem dies. Its place is however taken by several new 

 shoots or stolons thrown up from the base, These grow closely to- 

 gether, and the next year two or three may bear bunches of fruit. 

 When once planted the produce of banana trees on a small area is 

 exceptionally large. Hence Humboldt has calculated that, although 

 less nutritious than wheat or potatoes, yet the space occupied by their 

 culture and the care required render the produce of bananas compared 

 to wheat as 123 to 1 , and to that of potatoes as 44 to 1. 



The bananas (using the word in a general sense) are amongst those 

 cultivated plants of which we know the wild stock ; we are also 

 acquainted with one or more intermediate forms between the wild and 

 cultivated so that the transition in the evolution of the pulpy fruit 

 without seeds from the dry fruit full of seeds can be obseived. In the 

 case of M. Fehi\ found wild in Tahiti, Fiji, and New Caledonia, accord- 

 ing to Dr. Sagot well-formed seeds are not very common, and hence 

 this species exhibits even in the wild condition a tendency to abortion 

 of the seeds and a compensating hypertrophv of the pulp. Musas in a 

 wild state are chiefly found in India, the Malay Archipelago, Cochin- 

 China, Philippines, Northern Australia, and the Islands of the Pacific. 

 A remarkable group of large species with swollen stems and leathery 

 fruits are found in Africa. The true bananas are apparently Indian, 

 Malayan, and Polynesian. They have been cultivated from the earliest 

 times, and the facility with which suckers can be transported, and the 

 long period during which they retain their vitality, have rendered 

 them particularly easy of distribution. There are no plants that require 

 less care to establish. 



The most familiar of cultivated Musas are those originally described 

 by Linnaeus as M. sapientum and M. paradisiaca. 



Species of Musa. 



Although it has usually been believed that only one or two species of 

 Musa yield edible fruit it will be found that besides the numberless 

 varieties of M. sapientum, including the common bananas or plantains 

 of tropical countries, there are several other species which are cultivated 



