The Memoirs of Bābur 932.11.3

932.11.3

The plantain (Sans. _kelā_, _Musa sapientum_) is another.[1833] An [Sidenote: Fol. 283.] `Arab calls it _mauz_.[1834] Its tree is not very tall, indeed is not to be called a tree, since it is something between a grass and a tree. Its leaf is a little like that of the _amān-qarā_[1835] but grows about 2 yards (_qārī_) long and nearly one broad. Out of the middle of its leaves rises, heart-like, a bud which resembles a sheep's heart. As each leaf (petal) of this bud expands, there grows at its base a row of 6 or 7 flowers which become the plantains. These flowers become visible with the lengthening of the heart-like shoot and the opening of the petals of the bud. The tree is understood to flower once only.[1836] The fruit has two pleasant qualities, one that it peels easily, the other that it has neither stone nor fibre.[1837] It is rather longer and thinner than the egg-plant (P. _bādanjān_; _Solanum melongena_). It is not very sweet; the Bengāl plantain (_i.e._ _chīnī-champa_) is, however, said to be very sweet. The plantain is a very good-looking tree, its broad, broad, leaves of beautiful green having an excellent appearance.