| Comments |
Griffiths
gives Musa acuminata 'Sumatrana' (implying a cultivar) as the correct name of Musa
zebrina van Houtte ex Planchon. However, there is no cross reference under Musa
acuminata to Musa acuminata 'Sumatrana' but only to Musa sumatrana
which is stated possibly to be included with Musa acuminata. The
nomenclature of this plant and its close relatives seems particularly confusing.
There are obviously three very closely related forms of Musa acuminata but
sufficiently different for Norman Simmonds to treat them as distinct subspecies:
Musa
acuminata subsp. malaccensis (H. N. Ridley) N. W. Simmonds
Musa acuminata subsp. sumatrana (O. Beccari) N. W. Simmonds
Musa acuminata subsp. zebrina (H. N. Ridley) N. W. Simmonds
A number of horticultural 'forms' at least of the last two subspecies seem to be in
cultivation. These tend to be given different names by different nurseries or
different literature e.g. 'Sumatrana', 'Zebrina', 'Rubra' and 'Rojo'. The names are
used sometimes as if they were species names. This is wrong. The names
are used sometimes as if they were cultivar names, as here. This is also probably
wrong in a formal sense because most are probably referable to the subspecies.
However, some plants may indeed be distinct selections worthy of cultivar status.
Unless and until someone collects all the cultivated 'forms' together in one place and
evaluates them side-by-side it is likely not to be possible to determine their true
individual status. |