Musa exotica

Musa exotica

Musa exotica R. V. Valmayor, The Philippine Agricultural Scientist, 84 (3): 325 - 331 (2001).

Accepted name	Musa exotica R. V. Valmayor, The Philippine Agricultural Scientist, 84 (3): 325 - 331 (2001).
Synonyms
Authorities	Valmayor 2001 The World Checklist of Monocotyledons gives Musa exotica R.V.Valmayor, Philipp. Agric. Sci. 84: 326 (2001) as an accepted name.
Section	Callimusa (? see below)
Distribution	Vietnam
Description	Plant stooling profusely; suckers vertical, originating close to parent plant; pseudostem slender 0.5 - 2 m high, 3 - 6 cm in diameter, light green with purplish blotches. Leaf petioles green with sparse purple blotches, 20 - 42 cm long, petiole canal open with erect margins, slightly winged not clasping the pseudostem, petiole margins with purple lines. Leaf blades oblong, up to 1.5 m long. 25 - 40 cm wide, upper and lower surface light green, dull, leaf base pointed, asymmetric, hardly any wax on surface, midrib green, leaf corrugation striped, cigar leaf green. Bract leaves 2, basal portion orange-red, tip green, leaflike. Inflorescence erect, its peduncle 10 - 15 cm long, smooth, yellow-green; flower bud ovoid, 10 cm long, 4 - 6 cm wide, bract colour orange-red on the outside, paler on the inside, apex yellow, bracts greatly overlap, lifting 2 or more at a time, not revolute, smooth, not waxy, strongly grooved. Basal flowers female, 2 - 3 per bract, compound tepal yellow, 2.5 - 2.8 cm long, tip greenish, free tepal cream, closely appressed to the large orange stigma. Stamens infertile, 5, short, inserted at the base of the style. Ovary yellow, smooth, about 5 mm long, pedicel almost indistinguishable from ovary. Male bud in advanced flowering erect, 10 cm long, 4 cm wide. Bracts orange-red on the external face, paler on the internal face, tip yellow, greatly overlapping, several bracts lifted at any one time, persistent, turning brown and falling off at a later stage. Male flowers 3 per bract; compound tepal yellow-orange, lobe green, longitudinally grooved; free tepal yellow- orange, rectangular, boat-shaped, slightly longer than compound tepal. Fertile stamens 5 as long as compound tepal, filaments creamy, translucent. Anthers yellowish orange; style yellowish, stigma orange. Mature male flowers brown, persistent at its early stages, dehiscent at maturity. Fruits yellow, few, 10 - 22, uniseriate, perpendicular to stalk, 2 - 3 per hand, small, 2 - 3 cm long, 3 - 4 cm wide, straight, seedless, angular, apex blunt; style persistent, brown at maturity. [Valmayor 2002]
References	Valmayor 2001, Valmayor 2002.
Comments	Valmayor places this plant in the section Callimusa. The chromosome number is reportedly 10, which is correct for the Callimusa, but the seed shape, which is very characteristic in the Callimusa, is unknown; Valmayor reports the fruits as seedless which begs the question of parthenocarpy. The bracts are strongly sulcate so it is certainly not an Australimusa but the sectional status of this banana is not confirmed. It would be interesting to know the relationship M. exotica, M. paracoccinea and Chuoi Rung Hoa Sen. Images. There are images of Musa exotica at http://musalit.inibap.org/pdf/IN010286_en.pdf