Musa regia
Musa regia G. E. Rumphius, Herbarium Amboinense 5: 131 (1750).
Musa x paradisiaca var. regia J. G. A. Forster, De Plantis Esculentis Insulam Oceani Australis Commentatio Botanica: 31 (1786).Musa regia G. E. Rumphius, Herbarium Amboinense 5: 131 (1750).
Accepted name Musa (AAB group) 'Pisang Rajah' or
Musa x paradisiaca L., Species Plantarum : 1043 (1753).
Synonyms 1. Musa paradisiaca subsp. sapientum
2. Musa sapientumAuthorities The authority for the accepted name is Stover & Simmonds 1987 after Baker 1893. The synonyms are from:
1. RHS 1956
2. Champion 1967Section Distribution Description Fruit "as long as a finger", about 2.5cm thick, sweet and well flavoured. References Anon 1906 : 22, Baker 1893, Champion 1967 : 42, RHS 1956, Stover & Simmonds 1987 : 138 & 140. Comments Rumphius is a pre-Linnean author who gave the first detailed description of bananas in volume 5 of Herbarium Amboinense (1747) pages 125 - 140 which is available online at Botanicus http://www.botanicus.org/page/244763 to http://www.botanicus.org/page/244780. The section on bananas is divided into 7 headings.
Heading 1. A history and general description of bananas.
Heading 2. Rumphius categorises the bananas of Ambon into three main types to which he gives Latinised names viz:
1. cultivated or domesticated bananas, Musa sativa or domestica or hortensis
2. a semi-wild (or semi-domesticated) seedy banana, Musa alphurica
3. two wild bananas, Musa silvestris, of which one is seedless.Under the general heading Musa domestica (domesticated bananas) he lists 16 types most of which he identifies only by a local name but three of which are given Latin names:
no. 1 Musa corniculata or Pissang Tando, Pissang Carbou, Pissang Ocky Ocky
no. 2 Pissang Gabba Gabba
no. 3 Pissang Crobo or Cro (further subdivided)
no. 4 Pissang Djernang
no. 5 Pissang Culit Tabal, Pissang Baratsjo
no. 6 Musa mensaria or Pissang Medji
no. 7 Musa regia or Pissang Radja
no. 8 Pissang Mera, Pissang Cutsjupau
no. 9 Pissang Salpicado
no. 10 Pissang Swangi
no. 11 Pissang Batu, Pissang Bidji
no. 12 Pissang Abu, Pissang Soldado, Pissang Alphuru
no. 13 Pissang Bombor
no. 14 Pissang Canaya Puti
no. 15 Pissang Canaya Kitsjil
no. 16 Pissang BulangIt seems to me that Rumphius did not mean Musa domestica to define a single species but a category of bananas.
Heading 3. The horticulture of bananas.
Heading 4. A treatment of Musa uranoscopos, a domesticated type treated separately apparently on account of its upright inflorescence and rarity.
Heading 5. The semi-wild (or semi-domesticated), seedy Musa alphurica or ceramica or Pissang alphuru.
Heading 6. A wild banana Musa simiarum or Pissang Jacki (the Monkey banana) of which there are two types, small and large.
Heading 7. The wild bananas proper, Musa silvestris or Pissang Utan.Being a pre-Linnaean name Musa regia ought strictly to be ignored but it appears in some texts. It is for example quoted in RHS 1956 as a 'variety' of Musa paradisiaca subsp. sapientum that had previously been described as a species. Champion 1967 citing Baker 1893 gives it as 'pisang rajah'. Through its common name Musa regia is clearly identifiable as Musa (AAB group) 'Pisang Rajah' - see Stover & Simmonds 1987.
Musa x paradisiaca var. regia J. G. A. Forster, De Plantis Esculentis Insulam Oceani Australis Commentatio Botanica: 31 (1786).
Accepted name Musa (AAB group) 'Pisang Rajah' or
Musa x paradisiaca L., Species Plantarum : 1043 (1753).
Synonyms Authorities Section Distribution Description References Forster 1786 : 31, Stover & Simmonds 1987 : 138 & 140. Comments Georg Forster is not a major author in the Musaceae but, until his mention here, he has been a neglected one. Forster did little more than name 13 of the 16 bananas listed by Rumphius under the general heading Musa domestica; Rumphius gave binomial names to three of them himself. However, Forster was the first post-Linnean author to assign names to Rumphius' bananas and has some small significance as a result.
Forster published the name as Musa regia but the use of the binomial does not mean that he thought the plant was a true species. In fact Forster treated all 16 bananas as "varieties" of Linnaeus' Musa paradisiaca.
Forster's Musa regia is at
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jZD_aFFQYbAC&printsec=titlepage&source=gbs_toc_s&cad=1#PPA110,M1last updated 20/10/2008