289. Monodora grandiflora.—An African plant belonging to the Anonaceæ. It produces large fruit, which contains a large quantity of seeds about the size of the Scarlet-Runner bean. They are aromatic and impart to the fruit the odor and flavor of nutmeg; hence they are also known as calabash nutmegs.
290. Monstera deliciosa.—This is a native of southern Mexico and yields a delicious fruit with luscious pineapple flavor. The outer skin of the fruit, if eaten, causes a stinging sensation in the mouth. This is easily removed when the fruit is ripe. The leaves are singularly perforated with holes at irregular intervals, from natural causes not sufficiently explained. In Trinidad the plant is called the Ceriman.
291. Moringa pterygosperma.—A native of the East Indies, where it bears the name of horse-radish tree. The seeds are called ben nuts and supply a fluid oil, highly prized by watchmakers, called oil of ben. The root is pungent and stimulant and tastes like horse-radish.
292. Moronobea coccinea.—The hog gum tree, which attains the height of 100 feet. A fluid juice exudes from incisions in the trunk and hardens into a yellow resin. It is said the hogs in Jamaica when wounded rub the injured part against the tree so as to cover it with the gum, which possesses vulnerary properties; hence its name. The resin has been employed as a substitute for copaiba balsam, and plasters are made of it.
293. Mucuna pruriens.—A tall climbing plant of the West Indies and other warm climates. It is called the cowage, or cow-itch, on account of the seed pods being covered with short brittle hairs, the points of which are finely serrated, causing an unbearable itching when applied to the skin, which is relieved by rubbing the part with oil. It is employed as a vermifuge. In East Africa it is called Kitedzi. The sea beans found on the coast of Florida are the seeds of Mucuna altissima. In Cuba these are called bulls' eyes.
294. Murraya exotica.—A Chinese plant of the orange family. The fruit is succulent, and the white flowers are very fragrant. They are used in perfumery.
295. Musa cavendishii.—This is a valuable dwarf species of the banana from southern China. It bears a large truss of fine fruit, and is cultivated to some extent in Florida, where it endures more cold than the West India species and fruits more abundantly.
296. Musa ensete.—This Abyssinian species forms large foliage of striking beauty. The food is dry and uneatable; but the base of the flower stalk is eaten by the natives.
297. Musa sapientum.—The banana plant. This has been cultivated and used as food in tropical countries from very remote times, and furnishes enormous quantities of nutritious food, and serves as a staple support to a large number of the human race. The expressed juice is in some countries made into a fermented liquor and the young shoots eaten as a vegetable.
298. Musa textilis.—This furnishes the fiber known as manilla hemp, and is cultivated in the Philippine Islands for this product. The finer kinds of the fiber are woven into beautiful shawls and the coarser manufactured into cordage for ships. The fiber is obtained from the leaf-stalks.