1915 
390 The Philippine Journal of Science 
MUSA ERRANS (Blanco). Saguing machin. Plate XVII, figs. 6-8. 
Musa trogloditarum errans Blanco. 
Stoloniferous from the base, producing 23 or more flowering 
stems in a stool, reaching a height of from 4 to 5 m and a 
diameter of from 26 to 27 cm at the base. The trunk is rather 
slenderly cylindric, usually deep green. 
The leaves are large, broad, elongate-elliptic, deep green above 
and glaucous below, rounded at the base and subtruncate at the 
apex, the mature blades measuring about 230 cm in length and 
65 cm in width. Petioles deeply scalloped in cross section and 
from 56 to 60 cm in length. 
The inflorescence is a huge pendant spike with fertile flowers 
toward the base and sterile staminate flowers toward the apex. 
The spike usually bears 16 hands of matured fruits. The spathe 
is elongate-lanceolate, about 55 cm long, pale green, longitud- 
inally pitted inside and smooth outside. The sterile bracts are 
also pale green and usually curl after falling. 
The flowers (Plate XI, figs. 6-8) are small and white, arranged 
in dense, 2-rowed fascicles, in 3-ranked spirals, usually 18 in a 
fascicle. The perigonium is tubular, widened toward the apex 
with sinuses, shallow, 5-toothed. Scale nearly oblong, seldom 
with an acute, short tip, the surface much rounded, half as 
long as the perigonium; stamens longer than pistil and peri- 
gonium; the stigma is oblong. Flowers, beyond from 10 to 16 
basal fascicles, sterile, the sterile deciduous flowers maturing 
gradually, the basal at about the same time as the lowest fertile 
flowers. 
This wild species of banana, common in the forests of Luzon, 
was erroneously placed by Blanco as a variety of trogloditarum, 
the latter having an erect inflorescence and not known to occur 
in the Philippines. Blanco’s description is translated as fol- 
lows : 19 
Each bract covers something like twenty small flowers. Corolla: The 
superior lip with five slender lobes, the two alternate ones smaller; the 
inferior much smaller, with small teeth somewhat noticeable in the upper 
part and without a depression on the exterior part of the base; there is 
no rudiment of the sixth filament. Fruit with three or even five ribs and 
full of perfect seeds. This rare banana springs up spontaneously in the 
woods. Its height and appearance are like those of the other varieties. 
The spadix is almost six feet in length and the bract of the spathe is 
green and not of other colors. The fruits are not much bigger than the 
middle finger. They cannot be eaten even when ripe, for they are bitter. 
They are full of black seeds when mature. From a single raceme this 
“FI. Filip, ed. 2 (1845) 172. 
