Musa lawitiensis

Musa lawitiensis

Musa lawitiensis R. E. Nasution and Supardiyono, Bul. Kebun Raya Indonesia, 8 (4): 128 - 130 (1998).

Accepted name	Musa lawitiensis R. E. Nasution and Supardiyono, Bul. Kebun Raya Indonesia, 8 (4): 128 - 130 (1998).
Synonyms	Musa suratii G. C. G. Argent, Gardens' Bulletin Singapore, 52 (1) : 203 (2000).
Authorities	R. E. Nasution and Supardiyono 1998. The World Checklist of Monocotyledons lists Musa lawitiensis Nasution & Supard., Bul. Kebun Raya 8: 128 (1998) as an accepted name and Musa suratii Argent, Gard. Bull. Singapore 52: 203 (2000) as a synonym.
Section	Callimusa
Distribution	Indonesia (East and West Kalimantan)
Description	"Pseudostems slender, suckering, up to 1.5 - 2.5 m. high, rarely more than 4 m. tall, up to 10 cm. in diameter, waxless, with variable pink shade. Leaf blade 2.5 - 3.0 m. long, 35 - 40 cm. wide, waxy underneath, ornamented with pale pink colour, unequal at base and [ ] attenuated toward the apex ; petioles slender, pink in colour, up to 25 - 30 cm. long, with scarious margins at base, deeply grooved above with [slightly erect] margins ; midrib pink. Inflorescence at first horizontal then pendulous, up to 1.0 - 1.5 m. long, rachis minutely pubescent. Female flowers at base of 5 - 7 hands, in two rows of 6 - 8 per bract. Distal hands [with] male flowers. Male bud [fusiform], distinctly slender, bracts strongly imbricate and the outermost less then half of the whole [length] of [the] bud. Male bract deciduous, pale bright pink with [slightly darker] colour at apex and marginal parts, lanceolate-oblong, obtuse, about 9 - 10 [cm.] by 4 - 5 cm., not strongly rolled back. Male flowers about 8 - 10 per bract in two rows ; compound tepal 3.5 - 4.0 cm long, pale yellowish, [ ] minutely 5-toothed at apex ; the outer lobes equipped with dorsal filiform[ ] appendages [ ] 2 mm. long ; free tepal as long as compound tepal, 0.8 - 1.2 cm. wide, elliptic or linear elliptic. Stamens 5, nearly as long as the free tepal. Fruits cylindric, long slender, 9 - 10 cm. long, 1.8 - 2.0 cm. in diameter, pedicel 1.8 - 2.0 cm. long with [acuminate tip] of 0.4 - 0.6 cm. Skin slightly thin, pulp yellowish when ripe. Seeds numerous, obovoid with distinct small umbo at top, black when ripe, relatively small, about 4.0 - 5.0 mm diameter". (Nasution and Supardiyono 1998 lightly edited by drc where indicated [ ]).
References	Häkkinen 2006, Nasution & Supardiyono 1998, Wong et al 2002.
Comments	The plant is named after Mount Lawit in the Bentaung-Karimun National Park. Markku Häkkinen has identified 4 varieties of Musa lawitiensis. His paper on this, Häkkinen, M. (2006). Musa lawitiensis Nasution & Supard. (Musaceae) and its intraspecific taxa in Borneo. Adansonia, sér. 3, 28 (1) : 55-65 is at http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/front/medias/publication/8187_a06n1a3.pdf Images: There are external images of Musa lawitiensis in Häkkinen's paper cited above.