The best-known genus is _Musa_, the Banana (Fig. 314). From the short rhizome arise enormously large, spirally-placed leaves, whose sheaths envelope one another, and form an apparently aerial stem, several metres in height. The inflorescence is a terminal _spike_ with floral-leaves placed spirally, and sometimes magnificently coloured; in the axils of each of these several flowers are situated in two transverse rows (accessory buds); the lowest flowers in the inflorescence are ♀, the central ones ☿, the upper ones ♂, so that fruits are only found in the lower region of the inflorescence, the remaining portion persisting as a naked axis after the floral-leaves and flowers have fallen off; the inflorescence terminates in an ovoid bud formed by the flowers which have not yet opened (Fig. 314, the left-hand figure). The perianth-leaves are united (except the posterior one). The fruit (known as a “Banana”) is a _berry_, having the form of a smooth, short, three-cornered Cucumber (as much as 30 cm. in length); inside the tough skin is found a farinaceous, aromatic pulp. No seed is developed in the cultivated species.--~Several _Musa_-species are cultivated in the Tropics for the sake of the fruit (_M. paradisiaca_, _M. sapientum_); for the fibrovascular bundles, _M. textilis_ (Manilla Hemp).--Their home is, no doubt, the Tropics of the Old World; they were introduced into America before the arrival of Europeans. _Musa ensete_ has dry, leathery fruits; an ornamental plant.~ In _Musa_ the barren, posterior stamen belongs to the inner whorl; and also in _Strelitzia_ and _Ravenala_; the latter may have all 6 stamens developed. In _Heliconia_, on the contrary, it belongs to the outer whorl; in _Heliconia_ the perianth-leaves are differently arranged, and there is only one ovule in each loculus. The three latter genera have dry fruits and leaves arranged in two rows. In the “Travellers’ Palm” (_Ravenala madagascariensis_) the foliage-leaves form an enormous fan.--Tropical; about 50 species. The order may be divided as follows:--1. Museæ: _Musa_, _Ravenala_, _Strelitzia_ in the Old World. 2. Heliconiæ: _Heliconia_ in the New World. [Illustration: FIG. 315.--Diagram of a _Zingiberaceous_ flower (_Kæmpferia ovalifolia_): _b_ bract; _v_ bracteole; _k_ calyx; _p^1_, _p^2_, _p^3_ the petals; _sst_, lateral staminodes (“wings”); _lab_ labellum (formed of two staminodes); _st_ the fertile stamen; * position of suppressed stamen. The ovary is in the centre of the diagram.]