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Musa zebrina
Musa zebrina L. B. Van
Houtte ex J. É. Planchon, Flore des Serres 10: 223, t. 1061 - 62 (1854-55).
| Accepted name |
?
Musa acuminata subsp. zebrina (Van Houtte) A. N. Other |
| Synonyms |
1.
Musa zebrina J. É. Planchon
2. Musa zebrina J. É. Planchon ex
C. A. Backer
3. Musa malaccensis H. N. Ridley
4. Musa acuminata Colla |
| Authorities |
I
have inferred the accepted name.
The "synonyms" are from:1. Merely a "shortened form" of the full name given by Argent
1984 as
a synonym of Musa acuminata.
2. Cheesman 1948b.
3. Cheesman 1948b (although this is now considered a separate subsp. of M. acuminata).
4. GRIN & Hotta (1989) |
| Section |
Eumusa |
| Distribution |
India, Indonesia. |
| Description |
Height
3 - 4m. Pseudostems slender. Leaves oblong, dark green with irregularly
scattered broad blotches of bronze-red and purple. |
| References |
Argent 1984, Cheesman 1948B:
19, Graf Exotica, Griffiths 1994,
GRIN, Hotta 1989, RHS 1956. |
| Comments |
According
to Cheesman this "was a plant originating from some seeds that
germinated spontaneously in the hothouse of M. Van Houtte among orchid material sent from
Java. It happened to be one of the extremely pigmented forms of the species under
discussion [Musa acuminata Colla] in which the leaves are purplish beneath and copiously blotched and
barred above with purplish brown markings" A number of horticultural 'forms' of some of this subspecies seem to
be in cultivation. These tend to be given different names by different nurseries or
different literature e.g. 'Sumatrana', 'Zebrina', 'Rubra' and 'Rojo'. The names are
used sometimes as if they were species names. This is wrong. The names
are used sometimes as if they were cultivar names. This is also probably wrong in a
formal sense because most are probably referable to one subspecies or another.
However, some plants may indeed be distinct clonal selections worthy of cultivar
status. Unless and until someone collects all the cultivated 'forms' together in one
place and evaluates them side-by-side it is likely not to be possible to determine their
true individual status.
According to RHS 1956 Musa zebrina is probably a form
of Musa malaccensis which itself Musa acuminata subsp. malaccensis.
According to Graf Exotica Musa sumatrana (from Sumatra) is a smaller and more
cold-tolerant plant than Musa zebrina (from Java).
Introduced to U.K. horticulture about 1820. |
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