Musa mannii

Musa mannii
H. Wendland ex J. G. Baker in J. D. Hooker, The Flora of British India 6: 293 (1892) and H. Wendland ex J. G. Baker in Annals of Botany 7: 222 (1893).

Accepted name Musa mannii H. Wendland ex J. G. Baker in J. D. Hooker, The Flora of British India 6: 293 (1892) and H. Wendland ex J. G. Baker in Annals of Botany 7: 222 (1893).
Synonyms
Authorities Baker 1893.
Section Rhodochlamys
Distribution Assam, N. E. India.
Description "Stem slender, cylindrical, 2 ft. long, 1 in. diam., tinged with black.   Leaves few, spreading ; petiole 6 - 10 in. long ; blade oblong, green, unequally rounded at the base, 2 - 2½ ft. long, 9 - 10 in. broad.  Peduncle with spike erect, ½ ft. long ; female flowers in three clusters of three flowers each, their bracts deciduous ; male bracts crowded, oblong, pale crimson, 3 - 4 in. long.  Calyx pale yellow, 1½ in. long ; petal much shorter, truncate".

(Baker 1893). 

"Stoloniferous: sts. slender, cylindrical, tinged with black, 2 - 3 ft. high, 3½ in. circum. at base : spike erect, 6 in. long; female fls. in 3 clusters of 3 fls. each, their bracts deciduous; male bracts crowded, pale crimson, 3 - 4 in. long; calyx pale yellow, 1½ in. long : free petal much shorter : fr. small, 3 - 4 in. long, fusiform with a broad truncate apex. Assam. B.M. 7311. - Intro. into Eu. in 1893, and into U. S. in 1901".

(Ricker 1937).

"Pseudostems of this small species are about 70 cm. high, 2.5 - 9 cm. in diameter, and tinged with black.  Green leaves with linear oblong blades to 60 cm. long, 18 cm. wide, have petioles 20 cm. long.  The lax, smooth inflorescence, about 15 cm. long in the flowering portion, is somewhat inclined but neither horizontal or recurved.  Bracts are rose-colored, subtending yellow male flowers 5 cm. long.   The female flowers are 3 in a single row in each of 3 clusters.  Mature fruit is greenish, about 5 cm. long, filled with thin pulp and many black seeds about 6 mm. long."

(Moore 1957).

Plant height 60 cm. to 1.5 m.  Pseudostem about 70 cm. tall, slender, stoloniferous, tinged or blotched black.  Leaves oblong 75 - 80 cm. long, 18 - 20 cm. wide, green, midrib red.  Inflorescence erect to 14cm, bracts crimson to purplish-red, slightly groved, not curled back as is usual in Musa.  Flowers yellow, females flowers in clusters of 3.  Fruit green, angled, small.

(RHS 1956 and Huxley 1992).

References Argent 1984, Cheesman 1947b: 110, Griffiths 1994, Hore et al 1992, Huxley 1992, Mobot Tropicos, Moore 1957 : 183, NBGB, Rao 1994, RHS 1956, Ricker 1937 : 2079, Simmonds 1960.
Comments The name is cited as Musa mannii Hooker in Argent 1984 and Musa manii, in Rao 1994.

The plant was described by Baker 1893 "from a specimen that flowered in the palm-house at Kew, March 1893".

Moore 1957 comments that "although plants are currently offered under this name, their identity is not certain.  The species itself has never been properly described by contemporary standards and its relatives in far north-eastern India are poorly understood.  According to Simmonds (in correspondence), hybrids between species of this alliance [Rhodochlamys] produce individuals that could easily but mistakenly be considered distinct species.  Thus Musa Mannii must remain, at least for the time being, an enigmatic species".  Writing in 1984 Argent commented that this is an "imperfectly understood small species up to 1.3 m. high with purplish-red bracts that do not curl back".

The species was introduced to UK horticulture about 1892 and has recently become available again.  But is the plant available today really Musa mannii

I have not yet seen Musa mannii flower but I am growing plants from three different sources and have seen the plant at RHS Wisley.  Plants from all  sources look similar but none convincingly match the description given by Baker and from which later authors have drawn.  Cheesman (KB 4 (3) : 266 (1949)) has commented that Baker seems sometimes to conflate descriptions but since Baker described M. mannii from a plant that flowered at Kew one must take his description at face value.  Moore too also seems to have known the plant.  Neither Baker nor Moore mention reddish, ruffled, somewhat scarious wings at the "shoulder" or base the petiole but these are characteristic of all cultivated plants that I have seen.  It seems unlikely that such an obvious vegetative character should have been missed both by Baker and Moore.  Further, such wings are, according to Cheesman (1948) and to Argent (pers. comm.), characteristic of section Callimusa plants whereas Musa mannii is supposedly in section Rhodochlamys.

Harold Moore's comment in 1957 about Musa mannii seems valid today, "although plants are currently offered under this name, their identity is not certain".

Images.

There are four images of Musa mannii.


 


last revision 23 April 2003