Another species of the genus Musa is called paradisiaca from the mythical story that it was the forbidden fruit of Paradise. The common name of this species is the plantain and by many it is considered the parent of the numerous varieties in cultivation in Asia and the adjacent islands and also in the New World. Many eminent authorities believe that both the banana and the plantain, with the numerous varieties of each, are the same species. The banana plant is herbaceous and dies down to the ground after fruiting. The true stem is underground and perennial, sending up new shoots each season, which grow rapidly and in a few months bear ripened fruit. The stalk that bears the flowers grows to a height of from fifteen to twenty feet and is surrounded by the sheathing bases of the leaves. The flower cluster or spike is terminal and from two to four feet in length and nodding. The oblong leaves are dark green in color, from five to ten feet in length, and from one to two feet in width. The beautifully arching leaves and the pendulous cluster of flowers or fruits forms an attractive foliage and makes the plant a noted ornament for the garden. The many varieties of both the banana and plantain, which vary in taste, color, form and size, are very widely distributed throughout the world, being usually found in a zone bounded by 38 degrees North and 38 degrees South latitude. It is said that a single plant will produce, on the average, in one year three bunches of fruit weighing fifty or more pounds. The amount of labor required in its cultivation is very small, especially in the older plantations. The number of bananas on a single stalk of the ordinary variety varies from about one hundred to two hundred, with an average of about one hundred and thirty. When a plantation is fully developed growth is so rapid and so constant that ripe bunches of fruit may be gathered each week. For the best results a good, fertile soil is required. It is interesting to note that but little moisture is needed, for the plants attract water, either from the air or the waters deep under ground, and the surface of the ground is always moist even in a time of unusual drought. The stalk that bears the heavy bunch of fruit, occasionally weighing as much as eighty pounds, may be easily cut down by a single stroke of a scythe or a machete. Under cultivation the fruit seldom produces perfect seeds, but if developed in a state of nature it is said that they will mature and that many varieties are produced. The banana is frequently used in coffee plantations to make the necessary shade for the young coffee plants and at the same time it yields an income while the planter is waiting for the production of the coffee berry. Natives of the tropics have found the leaves a cool and useful thatching for the roofs of their huts.