Musa rubra
Musa rubra Firminger non N. Wallich ex J. G. Baker, Ann. Bot. 7 : 213 (1893).
Musa rubra N. Wallich ex W. S. Kurz, J. Agric. Hort. Soc. India 14: 301 (1876) and M. Häkkinen, Philipp. Agr. Sci. 86 (1): 92 - 98 (2003).
Musa rubra N. Wallich ex C. A. B. Backer in M. Hotta, In: Kagoshima University Research Centre for the South Pacific Occasional Papers No. 16, 1989, pp. 67 - 75.(1989).
Musa rubra Hort. ex Steud., Nomencl. Bot., ed. 2, 2: 167 (1841), nom. inval.
Musa rubra K. ScherzerMusa rubra Firminger non N. Wallich ex J. G. Baker, Ann. Bot. 7 : 213 (1893).
Accepted name probably a Musa (AAA group) cultivated banana. Synonyms Authorities Section Distribution Description Stem, petiole, flowers and midrib of leaf dull red. Fruit about 7 in. long, at first dark red, ripening to a yellowish red. Indian name Ram-kela.
(Baker 1893.)Pseudostem red. Petiole and midrib red. Fruit about 15 cm. long, dark red, yellowish red when ripe, flowers red.
(RHS 1956).
References Baker 1893 : 213, Firminger 1863, RHS 1956. Comments Quoted in RHS 1956 as a 'variety' of Musa paradisiaca subsp. sapientum that had previously been described as a species. Musa rubra N. Wallich ex W. S. Kurz, J. Agric. Hort. Soc. India 14: 301 (1876).
Accepted name Musa rubra N. Wallich ex W. S. Kurz, J. Agric. Hort. Soc. India 14: 301 (1876) and M. Häkkinen, Philipp. Agr. Sci. 86 (1): 92 - 98 (2003). Synonyms Authorities Cheesman 1947b, Icon. Corm. Sinicorum. The World Checklist of Monocotyledons lists Musa rubra Wall. ex Kurz, J. Agric. Soc. India 14: 301 (1866) as an accepted name.
Section Rhodochlamys Distribution India, China, Myanmar, Thailand Description Rhizome tuberous. Pseudostems dark purple, 1.5 - 2.4 m. Petiole purple spotted, deep purple at base, purple-red at margin, to 1 m., slender, margin narrow, open ca. 1.5cm. wide ; leaf blade adaxially deep green, abaxially yellow-green, ovate-oblong, ca. 2 m. x 50 cm., midvein pink striped, base obliquely asymmetric, apex obtuse. Inflorescence erect, ca. 40 x 2.5 - 4 cm. ; rachis brown villous. Bracts pink, lanceolate. Flowers 5 or 6 per bract, in 1 row. Compound tepal golden yellow, apex of outer lobes with a hook-like appendage ; free tepal yellow, much shorter than compound tepal, membranous. Infructescence erect, often with 6 - 9 fruit clusters. Berries 5 or 6 per cluster, reddish, cylindric, slightly curved, ca. 7 x 2.5 - 3 cm., base attenuate, apex truncate. Seeds numerous, brownish, depressed, ca. 5 mm. in diam., irregularly angled, tuberculate. 2n = 22. (Wu & Kress 2000).
Habit of M. coccinea. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, 1½ - 2 ft. long, 6 - 9 in. broad at the middle, acute, deltoid at the base ; petiole slender, a foot long. Peduncle and panicle erect, the latter at first dense, the fruiting part finally ½ - 1 ft. long ; nodes very numerous and crowded ; bracts bright red, glabrous ; lower sterile, lanceolate, a foot long ; upper oblong, 3 - 4 in. long. Calyx yellow, an inch long, 5-toothed at the tip ; petal lanceolate, half as long as the calyx. Fruits in 3 - 4 clusters of 3 - 4 each, cylindrical, glabrous, dry, 1½ - 2 in. long, ½ in. diam., narrowed to the base in a distinct short stipe. Seeds smooth, dull brown, 1/6 in. diam. [ ] Differs from M. coccinea by its short petal.(Baker 1893).
Habit : Similar to M. coccinea of section Callimusa. Leaves : Green, oblong to lanceolate. Peduncle : Erect, 5 - 10 cm long. Bunch : Erect, 20 - 25 cm long, 3 - 4 hands. Male axis : Erect, 30 - 35 cm long, predominant (sic) bract scars. Male bud : Bright red or crimson red in colour, smooth, lanceolate. Compound tepal : Yellow, 2.0 - 2.5 cm long, 3 + 2, lobes are yellow. Free tepal : Lanceolate, opaque white, half the length as that of compound tepal. Fruit : 3 - 4 fingers per hand, 3 - 4 cm long, smooth, tapering towards the base, tip is short but distinct. Seeds : Smooth and brown. This species differs from M. coccinea by its short free tepal.
(Singh et al 2001).
The description of Singh et al is obviously based on that of Baker but it is not easy to reconcile those descriptions with that of Wu & Kress! I do understand how anyone could think that the plant illustrated and described by Hooker in Curtis's botanical magazine (http://www.botanicus.org/page/437729) was "similar" to M. coccinea.
References Baker 1893 : 221, Cheesman 1947b : 110, Fawcett 1913 : 271, Häkkinen 2003, Häkkinen 2007, Häkkinen & Sharrock 2001, Hooker 1895 (http://www.botanicus.org/page/437729), Hore et al 1992, Icon. Corm. Sinicorum : 581, Kurz 1867 : 301, Kurz 1877 : 162, Li 1978 : 16, Liu et al 2002, RHS 1956, Mobot FoC, Mobot Tropicos, Singh et al 2001, Simmonds 1962 : 64, Wu & Kress 2000. Comments Inhabits shaded and moist ravine bottoms or semi-marshland at 1,000 - 1,300 m. in S. W. Yunnan according to Wu & Kress. Simmonds 1962 opined that "(the mysterious) Musa rubra [ ] is allied to (and may even be identical with) M. laterita" although neither of the above descriptions mention that M. rubra has long, running rhizomes that are such a characteristic of M. laterita. The illustration of Musa rubra in Curtis's Botanical Magazine of 1895 shows it to be remarkably similar to Musa laterita and does in fact suggest that M. rubra does have long, running rhizomes. There is a photograph supposedly of this species at the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore in Häkkinen & Sharrock 2001.
Liu et al (2002) point out that Musa rubra used in the Chinese literature such as Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. and Fl. Yunnan. is in fact a misidentification of M. sanguinea.
Introduced into U.K. horticulture around 1896 but no longer offered commercially and probably not extant.
Musa rubra N. Wallich ex C. A. B. Backer in M. Hotta, Identification list of Ensete and Musa (Musaceae) in SE Asia and West Malesia. In: Kagoshima University Research Centre for the South Pacific Occasional Papers No. 16, 1989, pp. 67 - 75.(1989).
Accepted name Musa acuminata subsp. malaccensis (H. N. Ridley) N. W. Simmonds Synonyms Authorities The accepted name from Hotta 1989. Section Distribution Description References Hotta 1989. Comments A misidentified plant (?) of no taxonomic significance. Musa rubra Hort. ex E. T. Steudel, Nomencl. Bot., ed. 2, 2: 167 (1841). nom. inval.
Accepted name Musa (ABB group) member or
Musa balbisiana L. A. Colla, Memoria della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino 25 : 384 (1820). [Memoria sul genera Musa e monografia del Medesimo 56 (1820).] and E. E. Cheesman, Kew Bulletin 3 (1): 14 (1948).Synonyms Authorities drc.
The World Checklist of Monocotyledons lists Musa rubra Steud., Nomencl. Bot., ed. 2, 2: 167 (1841), nom. inval. as a synonym of Musa ornata Roxb., Fl. Ind. 2: 488 (1824) which is given as an accepted name. This is wrong as discussed below.Section Distribution Description References Steudel 1841 (http://www.botanicus.org/page/392244) Comments Steudel cites the entity Musa rubra Hort. along with M. carolinae Sterler as a synonym of Musa rosacea Jacquin. The WCM correctly notes that Musa rubra Hort. cited by Steudel is an invalid name (M. rubra had been used already by Wallich & Kurz) but incorrectly reduces it to a synonym of Musa ornata. In his entry for Musa ornata Steudel gives as a synonym "M. roseacea Jacq. ? sec. Wallich". As discussed under Musa rosacea Hort. non Jacquin, Wallich was partly responsible for confusing Musa ornata with Jacquin's M. rosacea, two quite different plants. Steudel was therefore quite correct to give "Musa roseacea Jacq. ? sec. Wallich" (i.e. Musa rosacea Hort. non Jacquin) as a synonym of Musa ornata. In his entry for Musa rosacea Jacquin, Steudel gives Musa carolinae Sterler and Musa rubra Hort. as synonyms. This does not make either Musa carolinae Sterler or Musa rubra Hort. ex Steudel synonyms of Musa rosacea Hort. non Jacquin, i.e. Musa ornata.
Accepted name none - an undetermined Fe'i type banana. Synonyms Authorities Section Distribution Description References Kurz 1866 : 297 Scherzer, Karl, (a) Reise der Österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857-1859 unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair. (Physicalische und geognostische Erinnerungen von A. v. Humboldt), Beschreibender Theil, Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Wien, 3 Bände, 1861-2.
Scherzer, Karl, (b) Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara... in the years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Saunders, Otley and Co., London, 3 volumes, 1861-3Comments Kurz writes "Musa rubra, mentioned in the Narrative of the Austrian frigate Novara, appears to be the same species" as Musa uranoscopos Seemann. Musa uranoscopos Seemann is a Fe'i type banana. last updated 02/05/2008