The source of the synonymy is as follows:

1. Cheesman 1948e.
2. This is a spurious synonym - follow the M. martinii link for an explanation.
3. Cheesman 1948e.
4 - 5. Liu et al 2000

"Plant stooling rather sparsely ; pseudostems about [2.5 m.] high, green or yellowish green as far as visible, but usually hidden in the lower part by persistent withered leaf bases ; upper parts of leaf-sheaths lightly black- blotched, scarcely perceptibly waxy. Leaf blades, about [1.5 m.] long, 55 cm. wide, medium green above, paler beneath but scarcely glaucous ; midribs pale green above and beneath ; petioles about 30 cm. long, with prominent margins, widening from 0.5 cm. at the top to 1.5 cm. at base, spreading throughout the length and not clasping the pseudostem at base.

Inflorescence at first horizontal, the bud turning down immediately after the change of sex ; peduncle very minutely puberulent ; sterile bracts commonly 3, the first leaf-like with considerable development of lamina, the next tipped with lamina, the last completely bractlike but green ; basal flowers female, the number of female " hands " varying up to about 6, upper flowers male.

Female flowers 10 - 16 per bract in two rows ; ovary 4 - 5 cm. long, bright green, glabrous ; compound tepal 4 - 4.5 cm. long, white, its tip and lobes deep yellow, the lateral lobes 5 mm. long, with a minute dorsal appendage or none ; free tepal 4 cm. long, boat-shaped in the lower half only, the upper half ligulate corrugate narrowing gradually to an acute apex terminated by an apicula 7 mm. long staminodes 5, all as long as the perianth, exceeding the style and stigma ; style stout, stigma 7 mm. across.

Male bud in advanced blooming very broadly ovoid, obtuse, the bracts imbricate at the tip. Bracts yellowish-green outside, sometimes with a brownish tinge, dull but scarcely glaucous, sulcate, pale yellow within and transversely corrugate between the ridges ; broadly ovate, nearly as broad as long if flattened out, rounded at apex. Two or more bracts lifted at the same time, soon deciduous after flowering.

Male flowers about 20 per bract, in two rows ; compound tepal about 5 cm. long, 1.2 cm. wide, cream with yellow tip and lobes, the outer lobes narrow oblong, 5 mm. long, with a spine-like dorsal appendage barely exceeding 1 mm. ; free tepal lanceolate, long-acuminate, nearly 4 cm. long altogether, boat-shaped in the lower 2.5 cm., the upper 1.5 cm. narrowing gradually to an extremely fine point, this upper part becoming corrugated and revolute as the flowers age ; stamens at first slightly shorter than the style and perianth, later well exserted and revolute.

Fruit bunch compact, nearly horizontal, its peduncle pubescent ; individual fruits 5 - 7 cm. long, 2 - 3 cm. in diameter, 3 - 5 angled, tapering to the base into a short (0.5 cm.) pedicel, at apex rounded obtuse with a short conspicuously angled stylar callosity. Pericarp about 2 mm. thick, greenish yellow at full ripeness ; pulp white.

Seeds black, warty, irregularly angulate, dorsiventrally compressed, 6 - 8 mm. across and 4 mm. high".

(Cheesman 1948e).

Musa basjoo is commonly referred to as the Japanese Fibre Banana and it's native place is given as the Ryukyu (Liu Kiu) Islands.  However, Musa basjoo is not the Japanese Fibre Banana.  Musa basjoo is not from the Liu Kiu Islands and not from Japan, it is a Chinese species.  The Japanese Fibre Banana is Musa balbisiana another introduced species, probably from the Philippines.  There are no Musa native to Japan.  MORE ON THIS TO COME.

Musa basjoo is the most cold hardy Musa.  The rootstock, protected with a deep mulch, will withstand heavy frosts although the pseudostem may be killed.  It is possible to protect the pseudostem from less severe frost e.g. with layers of horticultural fleece or sacking or straw combined with a basal mulch.  The foliage will tolerate briefly only a degree or so of air frost. 

There are various forms of Musa basjoo now available in the trade in Europe, sometimes vying with each other in nurserymens catalogues as the most cold hardy form available.  Here is a commentary on the various forms available.

Musa basjoo 'Fuji-Yama' is a name applied to clonal material by Jean-Luc Penninckx.  He uses the name merely to distinguish the plant from other selctions he offers.  The plant has no connection with Mt. Fuji-Yama but was obtained from a commercial source in Holland, the nursery Xotus in Delft.  It may be said to represent the "normal" or "standard" M. basjoo in cultivation in Europe.  Musa basjoo in continental Europe was first made available by the French nurserymen C. Thiébaut & J. B. Keteleer under the name Musa japonica.  In the U.K. Messrs. Veitch were the first to offer Musa basjoo also under the name Musa japonica.  I do not know who was first or if the two clones were identical.  Personally, I do not find the name 'Fuji-Yama' at all useful.

Musa basjoo 'Fuji-Yama Variegata' is the name applied by Jean-Luc Penninckx to a variegated plant of Musa basjoo that occured spontaneously in a recent batch of micropropagated plants on the the nursery of Jos van der Palen in Holland.  This plant has become rather well known since it is featured on the Bamboekwekerij Kimmei website.  The plant is not yet in wide cultivation.  It may become more widely available if and when it is put into tissue culture.  However, variegated plants are notoriously unstable in micropropagation ('Ae Ae' cannot be micropropagated for example) and it may be some time before plants are available commercially.  This plant is indeed a variegated Musa basjoo but it is NOT the plant mentioned in various texts from the 1956 RHS Dictionary to Robert Lee Riffle's The Tropical Look.  'Fuji-Yama Variegata' is of very recent origin indeed.

Musa basjoo 'Tchechenia' is a name applied to clonal material by Jean-Luc Penninckx imported from the war-torn Russian republic. 

Musa basjoo 'Sakhalin' is a name applied to clonal material by Jean-Luc Penninckx imported with a group of other plants from Russia.   An amount of "urban legend" has built up around this plant but my understanding is that Jean-Luc is responsible for its introduction into Europe and for its initial commercialisation.  It is now relatively widely available.  Jean-Luc makes no particularly strong claims for its hardiness but it does seem to be somewhat more cold tolerant than 'Fuyi-Yama'.  However, claims are routinely made that it is a much hardier plant than "normal" Musa basjoo and it has been reported, for example, that the unprotected pseudostem survived - 7ºC in the UK.  Whether or not it is hardier than "normal" Musa basjoo, 'Sakhalin' does appear to be a somewhat more robust plant, stockier and with thicker leaves and petiole wings.  Compared side-by-side with 'Fuyi-Yama', 'Sakhalin' seems to be darker green in colour.  However, I know of no feature by which to determine whether an isolated plant one encounters is 'Sakhalin' or "normal" Musa basjoo.   The differences are real and 'Sakhalin' can be distinguished biochemically from "normal" Musa basjoo.  However, the lack of clear, visual distinguishing features is bound to cause confusion in the trade.  In the circumstances I am somewhat doubtful whether 'Sakhalin', as good as it is, really deserves cultivar status.  It is also worth pointing out here that 'Sakhalin' might have been introduced into Europe from Sakhalin Island but it did not originate there, it was introduced to Sakhalin as an ornamental from China.

Musa basjoo x hybridum as featured at http://www.tropicaflore.com is an invalid name applied to a form of Musa basjoo said to be hardy to - 12ºC to - 15ºC as opposed to "normal" Musa basjoo which, in contrast, is said to be hardy only to - 10ºC.

Musa basjoo 'Saporro' sometimes referred to as Musa saporro as featured at http://www.tropengarten.com is a form of Musa basjoo from Saporro, Hokkaido, Japan and said to survive - 19ºC "with standard protection methods".  The plant does not have species status as is sometimes implied; there are no native Japanese Musa.

The relative hardiness of these forms of Musa basjoo is somewhat speculative.   Unless and until these forms are collected together in one place and compared side by side it is not possible to draw any conclusions as to the comparative hardiness claimed by the suppliers.

Moore 1957 ponders the relationship of Musa basjoo with Musa liukiuensis (Matsumoto) [sic] Makino also from the Ryukyu Islands.  Musa liukiuensis (Matsumura) Makino is now recognised as a form of Musa balbisiana.   M. balbisiana is the true Japanese Fibre Banana and was also introduced into the Ryukyu Islands, probably from the Philippines or from Java where it was (and perhaps sometimes still is) grown for fibre.

Ethnobotanical information on this species can be found at USDA ethnobotanical database and the Kyoto National Museum website.

Introduced into UK horticulture in 1887 by Messrs. Veitch (B. M. 7182).

Images:

There are five images of Musa basjoo.