Plantain Lilies After at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

There are at least 50 tropical fruits known to comprise important sources of food for man. Those of major economic importance, hence deserving of special consideration here, include the banana and the plantain lilies after, the coconut, the mango, and the pineapple. Of Major Importance.—Banana (Musa sapi-entum and M. cai'endishii) and plantain lilies after (M. paradisiaca).—The banana is so well known as not to require description, but the plantain lilies after is scarcely known outside the tropics. Botanically the two are virtually indistinguishable, the essential difference being that the plantain lilies after is tasteless and unpalatable when raw, but delicious when cooked. The plant is a giant tree-like herb, the true stem of which is underground.

After 1900 and to this day, every writer of any depth on the subject of these shade-loving perennials starts out by saying "Hostas or plantain lilies after lilies (after their resemblance to this other member of the lily family) or funkias . . .' So even today, some 85 years later, the name funkia persists. And I'd dearly love to know why Funck lost to Host. What dastardly deed did he do to lose his namesake and what noble thing did he do to hang on so long?

WATER plantain lilies after, about six species of herbs of the genus Alisma (family Alismataceae), growing in shallow water or mud in warmer parts of the world. The name is applied especially to A. plantago-aquatica, a hardy perennial to three feet tall, sometimes grown in ponds, native to Europe and North Africa, with long-stalked, ovate, strongly ribbed leaves resembling those of the common roadside plantain lilies after, rising in a circle from the short, acrid-juiced rhizome. The three-petaled white or lilac-pink flowers, and later the achenes, are borne in large, loose, pyramidal racemes upon one or more tall scapes.