BANANA CULTURE IN HAWAII 43 
curved upward, forming large gutter; blade. u_. feet Long, no to 24 Inches ai 
greatest width: base, deeply cordate: apex. Long, tapering, Light green above. 
Lighter green underneath; margins with narrow brown edge; under side of 
young- foliage, slightly bronze colored; inflorescence stalk, small in diameter. 
but Long and gracefully curved: first bracts. Large, Indian red outside, Light- 
ened with streaks of yellow, glaucous, inside light red. and with numerous 
indentations. 
Flowers. — Pistillate flower, 13 centimeters long: ovary. 9 centimeters 
long, prominently 3-angied. often developing into four lesser angles, 
color, light yellowish green: perianth, large, many ridged, two of which are 
prominent: light cream colored with brownish streaks, extreme end 5-pointed, 
all edged with bright yellow, middle tip broad, outside tips narrow and longer, 
intermediate tips, short: corolla of one petal, white to translucent, delicately 
ridged, deeply dished, much of the margin turned inward, dimpled below 
apicula, which is broad, prominent, and turned inward. 3 millimeters long. 
Abundance of jellylike nectar in petal and about base of style; stamens. 5, 
short, thick, with blunt black tips, some attempting to form anthers. No pollen 
observed. Style, short and stout, about 5.2 centimeters long; stigma, 
globular, light brown; lobes, indistinct. 
Staminate flower, light cream colored. 5.2 centimeters long; ovary portion. 1.4 
centimeters long, whitish or greenish in part; perianth, whitish, prominently 5- 
lobed. tips varying as in pistillate flower, but all smaller, margins yellow : 
single petal, white to irridescent. bladdery, depressed below broadly pointed 
apicula : stamens. 5. white, longer than pistil and perianth ; anthers, curved 
and with brownish margins. No pollen grains present. Style, white, with 
small, rudimentary light buff stigma. Abundance of clear jellylike nectar in 
petal and about base of style. 
Fruit. — Bunches, rather small. 6 to 9 hands, rachis extending, sheds neutral 
and staminate flowers and bracts, which are red. glaucous, inside bright red ; 
terminal bud. small and tapering: fruits arranged loosely and stand out almost 
at right angles from the rachis ; individual fruits SMj to 6% inches long, plump 
in middle, tapering to ends, light green turning to yellow before ripening, 3 to 
4 angled, apex prominently beaked ; skin, thin; pulp, firm, light salmon pink: 
core, distinct : flavor, subacid. A cooking banaua, but eaten raw when fully 
mature (pi. 15. A). 
KAPUA OR PUAPUAXUI 
The Kapua (Xo. 4759), like some other varieties, is known by 
different names in different localities, causing it to be sometimes 
listed as two separate varieties. Slight differences are not truly 
varietal, but may be attributed to local environment. The Kapua 
may be cultivated over a wider range of climatic and soil conditions 
than most of the Hawaiian varieties. Generally, the clumps consist 
of few trunks which are larger than those of other varieties of the 
Iholena group. 
Pbn, /.v.— Trunks. 10 to 22 feet to arch of bunch; basal diameter, 10 to 17 
inches: color, greenish with considerable pink overcast with streaks and 
patches of rich brown: leaves, 9 to 12 to a plant, greatest length 10 feet; blade 
one side of which is attached slightly lower on petiole than the other, 18 to 
20 inches wide, green above, dull below : younger blades, delicate bronze color 
underneath: midrib, a trough above, flesh colored, below; petiole, about 2 
feet long, stout : margins curved into a deep trough with varying colors from 
purple to pink and extending to edges of the blade as a brown line; flowering 
stem, reddish, long, slender, and gracefully curved (pi. 10, A). 
Flowers. — Inflorescence varies from o to o clusters. 
Pistillate flower. 13.8 centimeters long: ovary. 9.8 centimeters long, light 
yellowish-green; perianth, cream colored with slight streaks of brown develop- 
ing on two dorsal ridges, terminates in 5 orange-colored tips, two outside Ion-. 
middle, short and broad, two intermediate, small and narrow; petal, white. 
translucent, turning to cream color with age, bladdery, margins curved Inward; 
apicula. prominent, pointed with two folds near the base: stamens, rudimen- 
tary: style, large; stigma, spherical. 
Staminate flower. T.!» centimeters Long; ovary. 2.N centimeters long, white 
with greenish cast; perianth, ridged lengthwise, cream colored. 5 terminal 
