Ensete perrieri

Ensete perrieri (P. Claverie, Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences de Paris 140: 1612 (1905)) E. E. Cheesman, Kew Bulletin 2 (2): 103 (1947).

Accepted name Ensete perrieri (P. Claverie) E. E. Cheesman, Kew Bulletin 2 (2): 103 (1947).
Synonyms Musa perrieri P. Claverie, Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences de Paris 140: 1612 (1905).
Authorities The source for the accepted name is Cheesman 1947a and Simmonds 1960.

The synonym is from Cheesman 1947a.

The World Checklist of Monocotyledons gives Musa perrieri Claverie, Ann. Inst. Bot.-Géol. Colon. Marseille, II, 7: 74 (1909) as a synonym of Ensete perrieri (Claverie) Cheesman, Kew Bull. 2: 103 (1947 publ. 1948) which is given as the accepted name.

Distribution Madagascar.
Description See Musa perrieri for a description of the type.
References Aluka, Champion 1949, Champion 1967: 42, Cheesman 1947a: 103, www.efloras.org, GRIN, Mobot Tropicos, Simmonds 1960: 206, 212, Simmonds 1962 : 25, Uphof 1968, WCM.
Comments Cheesman created Ensete perrieri as a new combination (number 18 out of 25) in a brief note in his 1947 paper reviving the genus Ensete. The Madagascan flora has African elements but is quite distinct with a large number of endemic species. Like the African flora there are no wild Musa native to Madagascar, but there does appear to be one unique Ensete species. Cheesman acknowledged that field study might reveal synonymy in his list of 25 Ensete but since it was typified by Claverie in 1905 Ensete perrieri has remained essentially unstudied so it cannot yet be reassessed. Simmonds (1962) comments that "E. perrieri [ ] probably belongs under E. ventricosum" although from the photograph of the plant [link below] supplied by Dr Thierry Devoin of the Laboratoire de Phanérogamie, Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, it seems to us the vegetative plant rather resembles E. glaucum. But Simmonds' (1960) note still accurately summarises the present situation, "status and relationship unknown".

In his description of the type Claverie comments, "Notre Musa, par son tronc renflé a la base, l'absence de réjéts, la forme des diverses pieces du perianthe, appartient a la section des Physocaulis; et il se place, par le nombre des fleurs de chaque série et l'aspect de ses inflorescences, au voisinage du Musa ensete de l'Afrique orientale. Mais il s'en distingué nettement par le nombre des etamines et la hauteur de sa tige. Il differe des Musa ventricosa et schweinfurthii par la forme de son tepale; et des Musa buchanani, superba, nepalensis par le nombre plus considerable de ses fleurs et la position pendante de ses inflorescences. Enfin il s'eloigne nettement du Musa proboscidea par le nombre plus faible de ses fleurs, par sa tige renflée a la base, par la forme de ses bractées floriferes fortement allongées et par ses inflorescences beaucoup plus ramassées. L'aspect general de cette espéce de Madagascar est d'ailleurs bien different de celui qu'indique Oliver dans les [Hooker's] Icones [Plantarum], pour le Musa proboscidea. Nous croyons donc pouvoir, sans hesiter, considerer comme une espéce nouvelle ce Musa de l'Ambongo, que nous nommons Musa perrieri".

It will be very interesting to know whether its affinities lie with the African or Asian species of Ensete, according to Claverie it seems to differ from both in floral characteristics. And if the seeds are really warty (see description at Musa perrieri) then it differs from all known Ensete.  [Toby Spanner has distributed seed of E. perrieri and it is indeed warty but thus far unfortunately not viable].

Champion 1967 seems to bring into synonymy here Musa pierrei Hubert citing Fawcett; "M. perrieri Claverie [ ] dans Fawcett = M. pierrei Hubert = Ensete perrieri (Clav.) Cheesman". We do not know how he gets this idea since Fawcett describes M. perrieri under the subgenus Physocaulis on p. 274 and M. pierrei under the subgenus Eumusa on p. 268. Although the description of M. pierrei is poor the fact that it has an erect inflorescence would seem to be more than enough to separate it.

Type: Perrier de la Bathie no. 1796 in Herb. Mus. Paris (also Herb. Mus. Col. Marseille ?) See also Decary 2337, 6883 and Perrier 16897 in Herb. Mus. Paris.

Images:

There is one image of Ensete perrieri.
There are several external images of Ensete perrieri in the Madagascar catalogue at http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=12&taxon_id=242417932
There are 10 external images of Musa perrieri at the Aluka website http://www.aluka.org.

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last updated 10/01/2008