Finlayson gives the following interesting information respecting the wild Plantain tree, found on the island of Pulo Ubi, off the southern extremity of Cambodia. “We had,” he says, “the good fortune to find that splendid herbaceous plant in flower: unlike, however, to that luscious and most delicious fruit raised by the hand of man, the fruit of the wild Plantain contains scarce any pulp whatever. Its leathery sheath incloses numerous series of large black seeds, attached to a pithy, central stem, and immersed in a gummy substance resembling birdlime. “It appeared, by our systematic works, that the seeds of this most useful plant have been but rarely seen by botanists; hence doubts had been expressed upon the subject. In none of the cultivated varieties are there any seeds discoverable; though, at times, we may observe minute black points in the pulp, disposed in longitudinal rows. These are, probably, the feeble traces of seeds not yet quite extinguished by cultivation, the black perisperm being the last to disappear. The seeds were numerous, covered with a thick, black, brittle shell, and as large as those of the custard apple, but of a more irregular shape. “There is no necessity to refer, as Willdenow does, the origin of all the cultivated varieties, and of all the species enumerated by botanists, to the _Musa troglodytarum_, a native of the Molucca Islands, as the parent stock. Our specimens accorded with the descriptions given of _Musa sapientum_. The seeds were in all respects perfect, and apparently capable of propagating the plant. Indeed, its existence on these islands, so rarely frequented by man, and altogether unfit for cultivation, can be accounted for on no other principle than the fertility of the seeds.”[146] It is, however, curious (and whether it depends on the fertility of the soil, I will leave for the decision of others) that the _Fehi_, or _Wild Plantain tree_, (_Musa Fehi_,) which is found growing so luxuriantly about the declivities of the mountains, has no seeds in its fruit. Sometimes a few straggling plants are found in the romantic valleys of the beautiful island of Tahiti, (and also others of the Polynesian Islands,) propagating themselves by suckers: so dense at some places have I seen them, that they appear almost united into one mass. The fruit produced from this species is large, full, of a dark orange colour, (which contrasts harmoniously with the very dark green colour of the foliage,) containing a bright yellow pulp; and although in a perfectly wild state, does not contain any seeds: its taste, when perfectly ripe, is sweetish, but with a roughness or astringency of flavour, so that they are usually preferred roasted, by which their flavour is evidently very much improved. This species also yields, from the trunk, a quantity of a dark, purplish juice, which I did not find was used by the natives for any purpose, but it may, probably, be applicable as a dye.