MUSACEAE 
487 
with transverse bands at the nodes, and green leaves which drop ofi 
early. Firs, polygamous or dioecious. 
Muehlenbergia Schreb. Gramineae (vm). 60 sp. N. Am., Andes, 
Japan, Himal. Some are useful fodder-grasses. 
Mulgedium Cass. = Lactuca Tourn. 
Multiovuiatae Aquaticae and M. Terrestres (Benth.- Hooker). The 
2nd and 3rd series of Incompletae (p. 136)* 
Muraltia Neck. Polygalaceae. 40 sp. S. Afr. 
Murraya Koen. ex Linn. Rutaceae (x). 4 sp. Indo-mal. The timber 
is useful, and the leaves are used as a condiment by the Hindoos. 
Musa Linn. Musaceae. About 20 sp. trop., exc. Am. Large herbs 
with rhizomes and ‘false’ aerial stems (see order). The infl. springs 
from the rhizome and emerges at the top of the aerial ‘stem.’ Firs. 00 , 
in the axils of leathery, often reddish-coloured bracts, the fruit-forming 
$ firs, at the base of the infl. The sepals and two anterior petals 
are joined into a tube, the posterior petal is free ; there are 5 fertile 
sta., except in M. Ensete J. F. Gmel. where the posterior sta. is also 
fertile; the ovary is 3-loc., with 00 anatropous ovules. Fruit alongish 
berry. Seeds with mealy perisperm. M. Sapientum L., the banana, 
with its subsp. M. paradisiaca L., the plantain or pisang, is one of the 
most important food-plants in existence, and is everywhere cultivated 
in the tropics, yielding 40 times as much food per acre as even the 
potato. The cultivated forms are propagated entirely from the 
rhizomes and produce no seeds (cf. Citrus). The dried fruits are 
ground to form plantain-meal. The stalk of the infl. of M. Ensete 
(Abyss.) is cooked and eaten. The leaf-stalks of M. textilis Nee 
(Philippines &c) furnish a useful fibre, known as Manilla hemp. 
[For details of economic uses, &c., see Kew Bulletin , Aug. 1894.] 
Musaceae. Monocotyledons (Scitamineae). 4 gen. with 60 sp. trop. 
They are (except Ravenala) gigantic herbs with rhizomes from which 
the leaves spring; the sheaths of the leaves are rolled round one 
another below, and form what looks like an aerial stem, attaining in 
the banana many yards in height. The leaf is large and oval, with a 
stout midrib, and parallel veins running from it to the edge. The 
edge is easily torn between the bundles, as they do not join in the 
same way as in a Dicotyledon; and so the wind and rain soon reduce 
the leaf to a very ragged condition. The firs, are in cymes or racemes 
with large brightly coloured bracts or spathes ; they are usually £ and 
zygomorphic, but come much nearer to the usual type of Monocoty- 
ledonous fir. than do those of the other orders of Scitamineae (q.v.). 
P 3 + 3, free or united in various ways, both whorls petaloid; A 3 + 2, 
the posterior sta. of the inner whorl being represented by a stami- 
node; G (3), 3-loc., With 1 — 00 ovules in each loc. Fruit a berry, 
capsule, or schizocarp. Seed with straight embryo and mealy peri- 
sperm. The firs, are rich in honey, and are visited by bees and birds. 
Musa is an important economic genus. 
