BASKETS. 
7 
Banana. 
Musa sapientum. Order Scitamineae. Herba- 
ceous, 151030 ft. high, smooth unbranched stem, 
really leaf-stalks, with crown of long and compar- 
atively narrow leaves. Each plant bears one large 
bunch of fruit, Exports in 1875 valued at ^5,600. 
In the year ending March, 1903, valued at 
^1,130,000 (over 14,000,000 bunches). Common 
all over the island. 
Uses. Fruit : eaten raw, when ripe (yellow), or 
variously preserved ; made into a meal ; green 
fruit cooked as a vegetable. Bark, for hats, 
baskets, mats ; a fibre. 
Plantain. 
Musa paradisiaca. Similar in growth to the 
banana. Fruit : larger, coarser, cooked and eaten 
as a vegetable. Bark, (see banana). 
©oco^nut Palm. 
Cocos nucifera. Order Palmae. The coconut 
has been called the “ prince of palms” and the tall 
stems, “ crowned with tufts of most graceful green 
leaves waving in the breeze, is a sight the northern 
traveller never forgets.” 
The uses in Jamaica are many. “Toddy,” or palm- 
wine, may be got from the sap of the flower spathe. 
The green nut gives a delicious water and jelly. 
An oil, used for cooking and lighting, may be ex- 
pressed from the dried kernel or “ kopra” ; the 
residue is called “ poonac” and is used as a cattle- 
food or as a fertilizer. The shell is carved for orna- 
ments. Coir fibre is obtained from the dried husk 
of the fruit. The flower stalk is commonly used 
as a white-wash brush. The leaves are used for 
thatching house's and making baskets, hats and mats. 
A strainer cloth is made from the web at the base 
of the leaf. The trunk gives the “ porcupine 
wood” which is much valued in England and lo- 
cally for cabinet work and walking-sticks. 
