Musa davyae

Musa davyae O. Stapf, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 3: 102 (1913).

Accepted name Ensete ventricosum (F. M. J. Welwitsch) E. E. Cheesman, Kew Bulletin 2 (2): 101 (1947) and R. E. D. Baker & N. W. Simmonds, Kew Bulletin 8 (3): 405 (1953) with correction in Kew Bulletin 8 (4): 574 (1953).
Synonyms Ensete davyae (O. Stapf) E. E. Cheesman, Kew Bulletin 2 (2): 104 (1947).
Authorities The authority for the accepted name is Baker & Simmonds 1953 as corrected (see below).

The synonym is from Cheesman 1947a.

The World Checklist of Monocotyledons gives Musa davyae Stapf, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1913: 102 (1913) (synonym Ensete davyae (Stapf) Cheesman, Kew Bull. 2: 104 (1947 publ. 1948)) as a synonym of Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman, Kew Bull. 2: 101 (1947 publ. 1948) which is listed as an accepted name.

Section  
Distribution South Africa (Zoutpansberg, Transvaal), Mozambique (Amatongas Forest).
Description

Pseudostem 30 - 40 ft. high. Leaves 12 - 17 ft. long, midribs rose-pink. Inflorescence massive, pendulous. Bracts maroon, oblong, about 1 ft. long and 5 in. broad. Flowers about 15 to each bract. Perianth about 1 in. long, linear, the two petals not united in the middle; free petal less than half as long, three-lobed. Stamens 5, 1 filiform staminoid. Fruit 3 - 5 in. long, yellow; pulp scanty. Seeds few, greyish-brown, 1.6 - 1.8 cm. in diameter.

(Stapf 1913, Fawcett 1913).

References Burtt Davy 1907 : 422, Burtt Davy 1911 : 93, Baker & Simmonds 1953 : 406, Champion 1967 : 40, Cheesman 1947a : 99 & 104, Fawcett 1913 : 275, GRIN, Lebrun & Stork 1995 : 34, Mobot Tropicos, Retief & Herman 1997 : 108, Stapf 1913 : 102 - 104.
Comments This was one of a number of African Musa transferred to Ensete by Cheesman in his 1947 paper reviving the genus Ensete. It was later reduced to a synonym of Ensete ventricosum by Baker & Simmonds 1953 as corrected (please refer to R. E. D. Baker & N. W. Simmonds, Kew Bulletin 8 (4): 574 (1953)). It is now recognised that there are no wild Musa native to Africa, only Ensete.

Types: J. Burtt Davy, Zoutpansburg, Transvaal (drawings) and W. H. Johnson, Amatongas forest, Mozambique, 27.11.1907; in Herbarium at RBG Kew.

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last updated 30/04/2008