Musa sinensis

Musa sinensis P. A. Sagot.  Bull. Soc. Bot. France 34: 329 (1887).
Musa sinensis R. Sweet ex P. A. Sagot. Bull. Soc. Bot. France 34: 329 (1887).
Musa sinensis P. A. Sagot ex J. G. Baker. Ann. Bot. (Oxford) 7: 209 (1893).

Accepted name

Musa (AAA group) 'Dwarf Cavendish'

or

Musa acuminata L. A. Colla, Memoria della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino 25 : 384 (1820). [Memoria sul genere Musa e monografia del Medesimo 66 (1820).] and E. E. Cheesman, Kew Bulletin 3 (1): 22 (1948).
Synonyms

1. Musa cavendishii A. B. Lambert ex J. Paxton, Magazine of Botany 3: 51 (1837)
2. Musa nana J. de Loureiro Fl. Cochinch.: 644 (1790).
3. Musa acuminata L. A. Colla, Memoria della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino 25 : 384 (1820). [Memoria sul genere Musa e monografia del Medesimo 66 (1820).] and E. E. Cheesman, Kew Bulletin 3 (1): 22 (1948).
Authorities

The accepted name is from Stover & Simmonds 1987.

Synonyms are from:
1. Stover & Simmonds 1987
2. GRIN & Mobot Tropicos
3. Hotta

The World Checklist of Monocotyledons lists Musa sinensis Sagot ex Baker, Ann. Bot. (Oxford) 7: 209 (1893) as a synonym of Musa nana Lour., Fl. Cochinch.: 644 (1790) which is given as an accepted name.
Section
Distribution
Description
References Baker 1893 : 209, Flora of Guandong, GRIN, Hotta 1989, RHS 1956, Sagot 1887 : 329, Stover & Simmonds 1987 : 96 & 115.
Comments

The basis of Musa sinensis is Musa chinensis published nomen nudum by Sweet in Hortus britannicus in 1830.  In 1887 Sagot transliterated this as Musa sinensis Sweet.  In 1893 J. G. Baker compounded the confusion by reducing both Musa chinensis Sweet and Musa sinensis Sagot under Musa cavendishii Lambert.  Musa sinensis Sagot mentioned by Baker is cited by Stover & Simmonds as Musa sinensis Sweet ex Sagot.  On the other hand GRIN cite this entity as Musa sinensis Sagot ex Baker and, via Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae bring Musa nana Loureiro into synonymy.  Stover & Simmonds treat M. cavendishii and M. sinensis as synonyms of Musa (AAA group) 'Dwarf Cavendish' but, disagreeing with others, consider that Musa nana is not the same clone as 'Dwarf Cavendish'.  However, Stover & Simmonds (p.115) also note that "the 'Dwarf Cavendish' must have had numerous origins by mutation from taller members of the Cavendish group."  This means that numerous "clones" of 'Dwarf Cavendish' must have arisen and it is not clear to me therefore why Stover & Simmonds would choose to treat Musa nana differently.  It is common knowledge in banana pomology that there are many clones of 'Dwarf Cavendish'.

The Flora of Guandong gives Musa sinensis P. A. Sagot ex J. G. Baker as a synonym of Musa acuminatae (sic) 'Dwarf Cavendish' while Hotta gives Musa acuminata as the accepted name.

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last updated 02/05/2008