X, C, 6 
Teodoro: Philippine Bananas 
411 
petiole short, stout, deeply channelled, with two broad crisped green edges. 
Rachis short, stout. Spike dense, oblong, 1-2 feet long, drooping; bracts 
red-brown or dark brown, ovate, the lower 6 inches long, the upper 3-4 
inches; male flowers and their bracts persistent. Fruit as many as 200- 
250 to a panicle, oblong, 6-angled, slightly curved, 4-5 inches long, above 
inches diameter, obtuse, narrowed gradually to the sessile base, seedless, 
edible, with a rather thick skin and delicate fragrant flesh. Distribution : — 
Native of Southern China. Cultivated in Mauritius, and introduced to 
England in 1827. This is now extensively cultivated in all tropical and 
sub-tropical countries and known as the “Chinese or Dwarf” banana. It 
furnishes a large proportion of the bananas usually sold in this country. 
The wild seed-bearing form is not yet known. M. Massouni, Sagot (name 
only), supposed to be wild at the Gaboon and cultivated in Bourbon, is 
said to be like M. Cavendishii but with slightly different fruit. 
In the Philippines only two varieties, called poot and tampohin, 
or tampihan, are to be included under this species, so far as 
known to us; other varieties like salebaguito may belong here. 
They need study. 
MUSA CAVENDISHII Lamb. var. HAWAIIENSIS var. nov. Plate XV, figs. 
6 - 10 . 
Among the College of Agriculture plantings there is a dwarf 
banana received from Hawaii which is evidently to be referred 
to cavendishii, but which represents a distinct varietal form. It 
is described as follows: 
Stoloniferous from the base, producing from 8 to 10 flowering 
stems in a stool. Trunk cylindrical and green, measuring from 
16 to 18 cm in diameter at the base and reaching a height of 
from 130 to 150 cm. 
The leaves are oblong, deep green on the upper surface and 
glaucous below, usually thick and rounded at the base and apex. 
The length of a mature blade is from 135 to 145 cm and the 
width from 69 to 73 cm, petiole from 12 to 24 cm long, stout, 
deeply channeled and scalloped in cross section. 
The inflorescence is a large pendant spike with fertile flowers 
toward the base and sterile staminate flowers toward the apex. 
The basal bract or spathe is large, elongate-lanceolate, and does 
not generally bear flowers in its axil ; it is dull brown and usually 
longitudinally pitted inside, green outside with leaflike appen- 
dages at the tip. It measures from 50 to 60 cm in width. The 
time to flowering is usually from twelve to fourteen months. 
The flowers are arranged in dense, 2-rowed fascicles in 
3-ranked spirals. The average size of the flower is 6.3 cm long 
and 1 cm wide, from 14 to 16 fertile flowers occurring in a 
fascicle and usually 7 fascicles in an inflorescence; perigonium 
long tubular with irregular thin margin divided to the base on 
