2 



sights in nature ; the vast leaves reflecting the rays of the hot sun from 

 their bright green surface contrast vividly with the dark-hued foliage of 

 the trees around, and show off the whorls of flowers with their fleshy, 

 metallic, purple-red envelopes and the great bunches of green and ripe 

 yellow fruit." 



Burton passed through groves of cultivated plantains in Central 

 Africa during " a whole day's march " ; while Johnston in Eastern 

 Africa regarded " the groves of emerald green bananas everywhere met 

 with as marking the commencement of the cultivated region." 



Belt's observations in the New World are : — ■ 



" The banana tree shoots up its succulent stem and unfolds its 

 immense entire leaves with great rapidity ; and a group of them waving 

 their silky leaves in the sun, or shining ghostly white in the moonlight, 

 forms one of those beautiful sights that can only be seen to perfection in 

 the tropics." 



An excellent general account of the plantain and banana was given by 

 the late Professor Lindley in Trans. Boy. Hort. Soc, V., pp. 83-84 : — 



" The plantain or banana, with which as a tree no one can be 

 unacquainted, is the principal fruit consumed by the inhabitants of the 

 torrid zone ; and from its nutritious qualities and general use may, 

 whether used in a raw or dressed form, be regarded rather as a neces- 

 sary article of food than as an occasional luxury. In equinoctial Asia 

 and America, in tropical Africa, in the Islands of the Atlantic and 

 Pacific Ocean, wherever the mean heat of the year exceeds 75° Fahr., 

 the banana is one of the most interesting objects of cultivation for the 

 subsistence of man. The fruit is produced from amongst the immense 

 leaves in bunches weighing 30, (50, and 80 lbs., of the richest hues, and 

 of the greatest diversity of form. It usually is long and narrow, of a 

 pale yellow or dark red colour, with a yellow farinaceous flesh. But in 

 form it varies to oblong and nearly spherical ; and in colour it offers all 

 the shades and variations of tints that the combination of yellow and 

 red, in different proportions, can produce. Some sorts are said always 

 to be of a bright green colour. In general, the character of the fruit to 

 an European palate is that of mild insipidity ; some sorts are even so 

 coarse as not to be edible without preparation. The greater number, 

 however, are used in their raw state, and some varieties acquire by 

 cultivation a very exquisite flavour, some of them surpassing the finest 

 pear. In the better sorts the flesh is no harder than butter is in 

 winter, and has much the colour of the finest yellow butter. It is of a 

 delicate taste, and melts in the mouth like marmalade. To point out all 

 the kinds that are cultivated in the East Indies alone would be as 

 difficult as to describe the varieties of apples and pears in Europe ; for 

 the names vary according to the form, size, taste, and colour of the 

 fruits." 



Besides the fruit-yielding Musas there are many species so ornamental 

 that they are surpassed by few plants admired for their gigantic stature 

 and graceful foliage. The largest of these is the Abyssinian Musa 

 Enseie, first described by the traveller Bruce. The leaves in fine 

 specimens are nearly 30 feet long and about 3 feet wide. The smallest 

 species is a singularly interesting one recently discovered by Delavay in 

 Western China (Musa lasiocarpa). There is no apparent stem and 

 the leaves are only about a foot long. Between these two extreme 

 forms there are numerous intermediate ones, all graceful and attractive, 

 some with bright red flower-bracts. Others, again, remarkable for 

 their mottled or banded leaves, are cultivated for their beauty. In spite 

 of their value as food plants and their wide distribution, Musas have not 



