Musa corniculata
Musa corniculata G. E. Rumphius, Herbarium Amboinense 5: 130 (1747).
Musa corniculata J. G. A. Forster, De Plantis Esculentis Insulam Oceani Australis Commentatio Botanica: 29 (1786).
Musa x corniculata J. de Loureiro, Flora Cochinchensis: 791 (1793).
Musa x corniculata W. S. Kurz, Journal of the agricultural and horticultural Society of India Part 1. 5 (3): 5 (1877).Musa corniculata G. E. Rumphius, Herbarium Amboinense 5: 130 (1747).
Accepted name Musa (AAB group) 'Horn' plantain type. Synonyms Authorities The accepted name is from Stover & Simmonds 1987. Section Distribution Description References Champion 1967, Stover & Simmonds 1987, Uphof 1968. Comments Rumphius' description of the bananas of Ambon is at http://www.botanicus.org/page/244769 et seq. and an illustration is at http://www.botanicus.org/page/244778. Musa corniculata G. E. Rumphius is a pre-Linnean name. Although Rumphius was based on the Indonesian island of Ambon, Uphof states that the plant originates on Réunion!
Musa x corniculata J. de Loureiro, Flora Cochinchensis: 791 (1793).
Accepted name Musa (AAB group) 'Horn' plantain type (Pisang Tando). or
Musa x paradisiaca L., Species Plantarum : 1043 (1753).
Synonyms Musa acuminata L. A. Colla Authorities The accepted name is from Stover & Simmonds 1987.
The synonymy is from Hotta 1989 but see comments below.The World Checklist of Monocotyledons lists Musa × corniculata Lour., Fl. Cochinch.: 644 (1790) as a synonym and Musa × paradisiaca L., Sp. Pl.: 1043 (1753) as the accepted name.
Section Distribution Malay islands and Cochin China. Description Trunk 10 - 12 ft. long. Leaves 5 - 6 ft. long. Inflorescence drooping; only the lower two or three bracts and flower-clusters are developed. Free petal nearly as long as the deeply toothed perianth. Fruit cylindrical, a foot or more long, 1½ - 2½ in. in diameter, golden yellow; skin thick; pulp reddish white, firm, dry, sweet, very palatable when cooked. (Fawcett 1913).
References Champion 1967, Fawcett 1913 : 265, Hotta 1989, Stover & Simmonds 1987. Comments Loureiro's description of Musa corniculata is at http://www.botanicus.org/page/654337 from which it is clear that this is the same plant as the pre-Linnean Musa corniculata Rumph. Musa corniculata J. de Loureiro is a Linnean binomial applied to the 'Horn' plantain according to Champion and Stover & Simmonds. If so, the accepted name for this plant is Musa (AAB group) 'Horn' plantain following Simmonds and Shepherds' nomenclature system. Hotta gives Musa acuminata as a synonym for Musa corniculata J. de Loureiro but if Stover and Simmonds are correct then Hotta cannot be.
Musa x corniculata W. S. Kurz, Journal of the agricultural and horticultural Society of India Part 1. 5 (3): 5 (1877).
Accepted name Musa (AAB group) 'Horn' plantain type. Synonyms Musa acuminata L. A. Colla Authorities Mobot Tropicos. The World Checklist of Monocotyledons lists Musa corniculata Kurz, J. Agric. Soc. India, n.s., 4: 166 (1878), nom. illeg. as a synonym and Musa acuminata subsp. acuminata as the accepted name.
Section Distribution Description References Champion 1967 : 39, Kurz 1877 : 161,163, 165 & 166, Mobot Tropicos. Comments It seems to me that the combination Musa corniculata W. S. Kurz cited by Champion, Mobot and at the WCM simply does not exist in Kurz's work. Sulpiz Kurz mentions Musa corniculata once in his 1866 paper (sensu Loureiro) a number of times in his 1877 paper but these again are clearly either sensu Rumphius or sensu Loureiro and not a new entity. The Musa acuminata synonymy given by Mobot and WCM seems to derive from p. 166 of Sulpiz Kurz's paper in which he states "Musa corniculata, Rumph., not of Loureiro [ ] is hardly more than a monstrous variety of Musa acuminata..." The entry at WCM brings a seedless cultivated banana, now interpreted as having an AAB genotype, into synonymy with seed bearing diploid Musa acuminata. This cannot be correct. It is correct to say though that Kurz's intentions here are difficult to interpret. For example, I do not know why Kurz distinguishes Musa corniculata Rumphius from Musa corniculata Loureiro because Loureiro obviously bases his plant on Rumphius'. Also, Kurz's own definition of Musa acuminata is quiet at odds with Cheesman's interpretation of Colla's plant. As Cheesman has commented, Kurz's publications on Musa were terminated by his untimely death and it is not at all clear where he was headed with his classification.
last updated 20/10/2008