Musa acuminata microcarpa

Musa acuminata L. A. Colla subsp. microcarpa (O. Beccari) N. W. Simmonds,
Kew Bulletin 11 (3): 463 - 489 (1956).

Accepted name Musa acuminata L. A. Colla subsp. microcarpa (O. Beccari) N. W. Simmonds, Kew Bulletin 11 (3): 463 - 489 (1956).
Synonyms

Musa microcarpa O. Beccari, Nelle Foreste di Borneo, 623 (1902); E. E. Cheesman, Kew Bull. 1948, 25.
Musa truncata H. N. Ridley, J. Fed. Malay States Mus. 4, 80 (1909); E. E. Cheesman, Kew Bull. 1948, 26.
Musa acuminata L. A. Colla, the Camerons form of N. W. Simmonds Malayan Nat. J. 10, 3 (1955)

Authorities The accepted name and synonymy is from Simmonds 1956.
Section Eumusa
Distribution Sabah & Sarawak.
Description This subspecies is characterized by the yellowish tinge and virtual waxlessness of the foliage, by the intense chocolate brown pigmentation of sheaths and, often, midribs, by the fading purple flush on the peduncle and male rachis, by the plump non-imbricate male bud, by the bracts purple without and red within and but weakly rolled at the time of falling and by its essentially montane distribution.

(Simmonds 1956.)
References Jarret 1987, Simmonds 1956, Stover 1972.
Comments The relationship between certain of the sub-species of Musa acuminata is somewhat confusing.

A number of horticultural 'forms' of some of the 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.  This is also probably wrong in a formal sense because most are probably referable to one subspecies or another.  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.


 


last revision 23 April 2003