Ensete calospermum

Ensete calospermum

Ensete calospermum (F. J. H. von Mueller, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 10: 355 (1885) and in Gardeners' Chronicle series 3, 20: 369 & 467 fig. 85 (1896)) E. E. Cheesman, Kew Bulletin 2 (2): 102 (1947).

Accepted name Ensete glaucum (W. Roxburgh) E. E. Cheesman, Kew Bulletin 2 (2): 101 (1947) and N. W. Simmonds Kew Bulletin 14 (2): 206 (1960).

Synonyms Musa calosperma F. J. H. von Mueller, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 10: 355 (1885) and in Gardeners' Chronicle series 3, 20: 369 & 467 fig. 85 (1896).

Authorities The authorities for the accepted name and synonym are Simmonds 1960 and Argent 1976.
The synonym is from Cheesman 1947a.
The World Checklist of Monocotyledons gives Ensete calospermum (F.Muell.) Cheesman, Kew Bull. 2: 102 (1947 publ. 1948) (synonym Musa calosperma F.Muell., Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 10: 356 (1885)) as a synonym of Ensete glaucum (Roxb.) Cheesman, Kew Bull. 2: 101 (1947 publ. 1948) which is given as the accepted name.

Distribution New Guinea (Papua New Guinea).

Description
Moderate to large stature (2 - 4 m. to the bunch); rusty-orange juice; waxy sheaths, petioles and bracts; slightly swollen pseudostem bases; hermaphrodite basal flowers; long-persistent glaucous green bracts; male flowers with an outer perianth of three linear, coherent tepals, five anthers, and a complex inner tepal, this last consisting of two large irregularly dentate lateral lobes that quite enfold the filaments and a narrow central lobe produced into a slender apiculus; lack of pigmentation in the male flowers, which are uniformly white or translucent; and subglobose seeds 10 - 12 mm. in diameter with a deep (3 mm.) hilar cavity, a slightly developed umbo with apical pit opposite the hilum and a black, smoothly irregular surface.

(from Simmonds 1960).

References Argent 1976 : 80, Champion 1967 : 39, Cheesman 1947a : 102, Guppy 1906 : 414 & 436, Simmonds 1960 : 205-6, 212.

Comments Cheesman created Ensete calospermum as a new combination (number 6 out of 25) in a brief note in his 1947 paper reviving the genus Ensete. Cheesman revived one and created 24 new Ensete species in that paper but acknowledged that field study might reveal synonymy. Simmonds 1960 reduced Ensete calospermum on the basis of comparisons with collections of Ensete glaucum from south-east Asia.
See Musa calosperma for more comments.

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last updated 23/11/2007

Accepted name	Ensete glaucum (W. Roxburgh) E. E. Cheesman, Kew Bulletin 2 (2): 101 (1947) and N. W. Simmonds Kew Bulletin 14 (2): 206 (1960).
Synonyms	Musa calosperma F. J. H. von Mueller, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 10: 355 (1885) and in Gardeners' Chronicle series 3, 20: 369 & 467 fig. 85 (1896).
Authorities	The authorities for the accepted name and synonym are Simmonds 1960 and Argent 1976. The synonym is from Cheesman 1947a. The World Checklist of Monocotyledons gives Ensete calospermum (F.Muell.) Cheesman, Kew Bull. 2: 102 (1947 publ. 1948) (synonym Musa calosperma F.Muell., Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 10: 356 (1885)) as a synonym of Ensete glaucum (Roxb.) Cheesman, Kew Bull. 2: 101 (1947 publ. 1948) which is given as the accepted name.
Distribution	New Guinea (Papua New Guinea).
Description	Moderate to large stature (2 - 4 m. to the bunch); rusty-orange juice; waxy sheaths, petioles and bracts; slightly swollen pseudostem bases; hermaphrodite basal flowers; long-persistent glaucous green bracts; male flowers with an outer perianth of three linear, coherent tepals, five anthers, and a complex inner tepal, this last consisting of two large irregularly dentate lateral lobes that quite enfold the filaments and a narrow central lobe produced into a slender apiculus; lack of pigmentation in the male flowers, which are uniformly white or translucent; and subglobose seeds 10 - 12 mm. in diameter with a deep (3 mm.) hilar cavity, a slightly developed umbo with apical pit opposite the hilum and a black, smoothly irregular surface. (from Simmonds 1960).
References	Argent 1976 : 80, Champion 1967 : 39, Cheesman 1947a : 102, Guppy 1906 : 414 & 436, Simmonds 1960 : 205-6, 212.
Comments	Cheesman created Ensete calospermum as a new combination (number 6 out of 25) in a brief note in his 1947 paper reviving the genus Ensete. Cheesman revived one and created 24 new Ensete species in that paper but acknowledged that field study might reveal synonymy. Simmonds 1960 reduced Ensete calospermum on the basis of comparisons with collections of Ensete glaucum from south-east Asia. See Musa calosperma for more comments.