Musa chevalieri

Musa chevalieri

Musa chevalieri F. Gagnepain, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 55, 58, Mem. 8: 87 (1908) and A. J. B. Chevalier, Novitates Florae Africanae in Mémoires de la Société Botanique de France 8: 31 - 109 (1908).

Accepted name	Ensete gilletii (E. A. J. De Wildeman) E. E. Cheesman, Kew Bulletin 2 (2): 103 (1947).
Synonyms	Musa procera A. J. B. Chevalier, Novitates Florae Africanae in Mémoires de la Société Botanique de France 8: 31 - 109 (1908).
Authorities	The authorities for the accepted name are Cheesman 1947a, Baker & Simmonds 1953. The authority for the synonym is Gerda Rossel. The World Checklist of Monocotyledons lists Musa chevalieri Gagnep., Bull. Soc. Bot. France 55(8): 87 (1908) as a synonym of Ensete livingstonianum (J.Kirk) Cheesman, Kew Bull. 2: 101 (1947 publ. 1948) which is listed as an accepted name.
Section
Distribution	Central African Republic.
Description	Plant 4 - 4.5 m. high, leafy throughout. Base of pseudostem lightly dilated. Leaves erect, lanceolate-acute. Petioles purplish at the base, narrowed in the middle, pruinose-glaucous outside. Inflorescence drooping, fruits very crowded, male flowers persistent. Bracts ovate-lanceolate. Perianth three-lobed, free petal two-lobed. Stamens 5 (rarely 6). Fruit club-shaped, 8 - 9 cm. long, green with white dots and yellowish pulp. Seeds black, ca. 30/fruit, 7 - 8 mm. in diameter. (Gagnepain 1908, Fawcett 1913).
References	Akoègninou et al 2006, Baker & Simmonds 1953 : 407, Champion 1967 : 39, Cheesman 1947a : 103, Chevalier 1912 : 37, Chevalier 1913 : 303, Chevalier 1934 : 73, De Wildeman 1912 : 324, Fawcett 1913 : 276, Gagnepain 1908 : 87 - 88, Hepper 1968 : 69, Hutchinson & Dalziel 1936 : 328, Koechlin 1965 : 11, WCM.
Comments	Musa chevalieri has also been associated with Ensete schweinfurthii ; this seems to have been based on a confusion by Hutchinson & Dalziel. According to Gagnepain, M. chevalieri resembled M. schweinfurthii in its "basi valde dilatata" (i.e. base of pseudostem only slightly dilated), and Chevalier (1913: 303) gives M. chevalieri Gagnep. as a synonym of M. schweinfurthii Warb. The entry for Musa chevalieri in the World Checklist of Monocotyledons is difficult to understand especially in the light of the citation of Akoègninou et al 2006 who list Musa chevalieri as a synonym of Ensete gilletii. Types: Chevalier no. 5446 [this is the type of M. procera Chev.], 6059, 8389, notes and photographs (in Herb. Paris). Images: There are nine external images of Musa chevalieri at the Aluka website http://www.aluka.org.