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There
is an increasing range of Musaceae commercially available in the UK. This a brief
guide to those available based on but not limited to the 2000-2001 Plant Finder. It may be useful to give here a brief note about the origin of banana cultivars grown for fruit and the classification system used for them. The fruit-bearing cultivars in this list are derived either from Musa acuminata alone or in hybrid combination with Musa balbisiana. These cultivars are not simple but rather complex hybrids and have been further modified by various mutations. Because of this complexity and to prevent possible confusion edible banana cultivars should not be given Latin plant names. Instead they have been sorted into genome groups based on their sets of chromosomes and the apparent relative contribution of Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana to their development. These genome groups are used formally to name them the cultivars without having to resort to Latin names for the species. Some bananas have two sets of chromosomes and if both of these are thought to derive from Musa acuminata the plant is said to belong to the AA group. Other bananas have three sets of chromosomes. They belong to the AAA group if all the sets come from Musa acuminata and the BBB group if all the sets come from Musa balbisiana. Combinations such as AB, AAB and ABB also exist. Deciding on which genome group to place a banana is not a simple matter but this has already been done for most cultivars. Examples of how the genome groups are used properly to name banana cultivars are given below. New bananas are becoming available all the time so this list may not be complete. Another reason why you may not be able to find your plant here is that nurserymen and garden centres often mislabel their plants or invent new names for them. Please let me know if you cannot find your plant on this page. Please
e-mail me at drc@globalnet.co.uk with any comments on or
suggestions for this page. Listed in Plant Finder 2000 - 2001 Ensete glaucum. Ensete glaucum is the correct species name. Ensete glaucum is the most widespread Asian Ensete and its range is such that some provenances, especially from China, may be quite cold tolerant. The common name "Snow Banana" is sometimes applied to Ensete glaucum to indicate its supposed hardiness. However, Ensete glaucum has only become available commercially in 2000 so no-one yet has any outdoor overwintering experience. The most cold hardy provenances may not anyway yet be available, Ensete glaucum has a very wide range that includes tropical areas. Having said that, Ensete glaucum seems not to be a very variable plant in terms of plant habit and leaf colour which is a bluish-green. Ensete glaucum is potentially a very large plant indeed although it is extremely unlikely to reach its full potential under UK conditions, inside or out. Nevertheless it should prove to be a spectacular foliage plant in the garden even if only in summer bedding. The fruit is not likely to be produced in the UK except under exceptional circumstances and is anyway not edible. Sometimes the names Musa wilsonii or Ensete wilsonii are attached to this species as synonyms, or vice versa. It is almost certainly true to say that Musa wilsonii or Ensete wilsonii are Ensete glaucum. In other words, the "correct" name for Musa wilsonii and Ensete wilsonii is Ensete glaucum. However, it is not always true to say that Ensete glaucum is Ensete wilsonii. This may at first seem nonsensical but, by analogy, carrots are vegetables although vegetables are not carrots. See also the section on Musa wilsonii below. Ensete
ventricosum. Ensete
ventricosum 'Atropurpureum'. Ensete
ventricosum 'Maurelii'. Ensete ventricosum 'Rubrum'. This plant is a cultivar of Ensete ventricosum and the correct name is Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii'. There is no difference between plants offered as 'Rubrum' and 'Maurelii'. Musa acuminata. Musa acuminata is a wild, seed-bearing species of banana but the name is used incorrectly here in the Plant Finder to apply to a fruiting cultivar. As mentioned above most banana cultivars grown for fruit derive from Musa acuminata alone or in combination with another species, Musa balbisiana but these plants are correctly named by reference to their genome groups. It is likely that the plant to which this name is applied is a member of the Cavendish group, most probably Musa (AAA group) 'Dwarf Cavendish'. Musa acuminata itself is a very variable species and many subspecies have been identified. One of these, Musa acuminata subsp. zebrina is cultivated in the UK but sometimes under the wrong name. Musa acuminata 'Dwarf Cavendish'. The correct name for this cultivar is Musa (AAA group) 'Dwarf Cavendish'. This plant is a female-sterile triploid cultivar of banana derived from Musa acuminata. Cultivated fruit bananas are correctly named by reference to their genome groups. 'Dwarf Cavendish' belongs to a subgroup of cultivated bananas called the 'Cavendish' subgroup that is the source of the banana fruit in the UK shops. Banana cultivars of the 'Cavendish' subgroup vary in plant height but the fruit is essentially the same for each cultivar. There are many micropropagated clones available of 'Dwarf Cavendish' which differ for example in plant height and conformation and the extent and intensity of the purple blotches on the upper surface of the leaves. Some of the more distinctive of these clones have been given brand names in the trade which may or may not be apparent when the plants are sold in UK garden centres and supermarkets. The clone sold under the brand name of "Bananarama" with a "scratch 'n sniff" banana-shaped label is particularly dwarf. There are others in the trade called, for example, "Tropicana" and "Chyla Dwarf". "Dwarf Cavendish" has been awarded an RHS AGM but there is no AGM-form as such, rather unhelpful as there are now many forms around. 'Dwarf Cavendish' produces parthenocarpic fruit, it does not need the stimulus of developing seed after fertilisation to develop. Indeed, 'Dwarf Cavendish', like almost all edible bananas, is female-sterile and does not produce seed even if the flowers are pollinated. You cannot grow 'Dwarf Cavendish' from seed as there is no such thing as seed of 'Dwarf Cavendish'! It can be fruited in the UK but only under protection and with a winter night minimum of about 18°C and the plant given adequate light, space and nutrition. Musa acuminata subsp. sumatrana x 'Grand Nair'. This is a typographical error in the Plant Finder for Musa acuminata subsp. sumatrana x 'Grand Nain'. This plant is a hybrid between a subspecies of Musa acuminata (female parent) and a commercial banana cultivar 'Grand Nain' (male parent). 'Grand Nain' is properly called Musa (AAA group) 'Grand Nain' (see below). The cross was made by W. O. Lessard a pioneer banana nurseryman in Florida who wrote a very influential but sometimes inaccurate book on bananas. The result of his cross was a single fruit containing seed. Lessard's own seed did not germinate but from the seed he gave to a friend a single plant was raised. This proved to be a richly coloured dwarf plant growing to no more than five feet before fruiting. The fruit of this hybrid would only be produced under glass in the UK but is not considered to be edible. Lessard comments "the fruit was seedless but not very pleasing to the taste. It was a definite improvement over the taste of the M. Sumatrana (sic) but not good enough to be considered tasty. [Nevertheless] the plant is very handsome with the juvenile leaves generously marked with splashes of red that fade as the leaves mature. The bottom of the leaf is maroon." Lessard also mentions that "thought is being given to a name" for the plant but this has not yet been done. Musa acuminata 'Zebrina'. This is an invalid cultivar name applied to a clone of a subspecies of Musa acuminata. The name "zebrina" is properly applied to a subspecies not a cultivar of Musa acuminata. Musa acuminata is an extremely variable species that has been sorted into a number of different subspecies based on their geographic occurrence and various technical differences. A characteristic of the leaves of Musa acuminata subspecies is the occurrence of purple-red markings on the upper surface and a purple-red blush on the underside. The intensity of colour varies greatly between different subspecies. The intensity of colour also varies, but to a smaller extent, between different seedlings of the same subspecies. The best coloured forms have been selectively propagated for ornamental use by vegetative propagation; these days micropropagation is often used. Sometimes the ornamental forms are given cultivar names like 'Zebrina', 'Sumatrana', 'Rojo' or 'Rubra' but these are not taxonomically valid. Because similar leaf colouration occurs in different subspecies of Musa acuminata it is rather difficult to tell from which subspecies the ornamental forms have actually been derived. Most probably the ornamental forms have been derived from Musa acuminata subsp. sumatrana and Musa acuminata subsp. zebrina. The best forms of the plant are spectacular foliage plants for greenhouse or conservatory. The fruit of this plant would only be produced under glass in the UK but is not considered to be edible. Musa basjoo. Musa basjoo is the correct name for this Chinese species that belongs to the Musa section Musa (1). This is a very cold tolerant species that can be grown outdoors in many parts of the UK albeit usually requiring some winter protection. It is usually referred to as the Japanese Fibre Banana but the plant it is in fact not native to Japan but to China. This plant will flower outdoors in the UK and produce "little bananas" but the fruit does not develop parthenocarpically. The fruit will only develop properly if it has been pollinated and fertilised. Pollination requires two Musa basjoo plants flowering 4 - 6 weeks apart. Each inflorescence produces female and then male flowers. By the time the male flowers are produced the female flowers on the same inflorescence have dropped off. With luck, by the time the male flowers are developing on the first plant to flower the female flowers on the second plant will be receptive to pollen. The more plants you have the better the chances of success at producing fruit. Fruit produced in this way will contain many seeds but the de-seeded ripe fruit is supposedly edible. It is possible that the flowers could also be pollinated and fertilised with pollen from another Musa. Musa basjoo 'Sakhalin'. This plant is reputedly an exceptionally cold hardy form of Musa basjoo. This form was collected from Sakhalin island off the Pacific coast of Russia by a Russian botanist and introduced to Europe via Belgium. However, another story has it that the plant was collected by American nurserymen from the airport at Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. It did not originate in Sakhalin. It is doubtful if this plant deserves the status of a cultivar as it is insufficiently distinct from "normal" Musa basjoo. Musa 'Brazilian'. The correct name for this cultivar is Musa (AAB group) 'Brazilian'. It is a clone of the Indian cultivar Musa (AAB group) 'Pome' and produces edible fruit. 'Brazilian' is the clone principally grown on Hawai'i for fruit for local consumption. The origin of this type of banana is thought to be south India but it is said to have been introduced to Hawai'i from Java via Tahiti in 1855. This does not explain how it got it's name which seems not to be known. Local common names have been attached to fruiting bananas for all sorts of odd reasons. Musa 'Cardaba'. The correct name for this cultivar is Musa (BBB group) 'Cardaba'. This cultivar originated in the Philippines as a sport of the cultivar 'Saba'. This is a very interesting plant because it is an edible triploid cultivar derived exclusively from Musa balbisiana. Most edible bananas are derived from Musa acuminata or from complex hybrids involving Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana, there are relatively few derived from Musa balbisiana alone. Musa balbisiana and cultivars derived from it lack the red-purple leaf blotches so characteristic of cultivars derived from Musa acuminata. Instead they are a distinctive and attractive blue-green colour caused by a relatively thick layer of surface wax. The fruit of this banana is edible but only after cooking as a vegetable. Musa cavendishii. The correct name for this cultivar is Musa (AAA group) 'Dwarf Cavendish'. The species name Musa cavendishii was given at a time when the nature of banana cultivars was not properly understood and they were all considered to be species. This cultivar is a female-sterile triploid derived from Musa acuminata. It belongs to the same genome group of banana cultivars that supplies the banana fruit in the shops. There are many micropropagated clones available of 'Dwarf Cavendish' which differ for example in plant height and the degree and intensity of the purple blotches on the upper surface of the leaves. Some of the more distinctive of these clones have been given brand names in the trade which may or may not be apparent when the plants are sold in UK garden centres and supermarkets. The clone sold under the brand name of "Bananarama" with a "scratch 'n sniff" banana-shaped label is particularly dwarf. There are others in the trade called, for example, "Tropicana" and "Chyla Dwarf". "Dwarf Cavendish" has been awarded an RHS AGM but there is no AGM-form as such, rather unhelpful as there are now many forms around. 'Dwarf Cavendish' produces fruit parthenocarpically, it does not need the stimulus of pollination (or strictly speaking, fertilisation) to develop. It can be fruited in the UK but only under protection and with a winter night minimum of about 18°C and the plant given adequate light, space and nutrition. Musa coccinea. The situation with this species is a little complicated. The names Musa coccinea and Musa uranoscopos are used interchangeably for the same small banana from Indo-China. It grows to about 1.5 m. high with bright green foliage and has an upright inflorescence with red bracts with yellow tips and yellow flowers. You may see it written that the flowers are blue; they are not. It may be that the two names, Musa coccinea and Musa uranoscopos, really do refer to a single species from Indo-China and if this is true then the correct name is Musa uranoscopos. Or it may be that there are two very similar species that nonetheless deserve different names. The true situation is not known for sure and it is not a simple matter to resolve. In the meantime both names are in use. The plant belongs to the Musa section Callimusa, well, for the time being it does anyway, there is emerging evidence that it does not quite fit there. The plant has been awarded an RHS AGM as Musa uranoscopus (note the difference in spelling) but there is no AGM-form as such. See also Musa uranoscopus below. Musa 'Double'. This is a somewhat imprecise name referring to a mutant that produces a fruit bunch that divides into two as it grows, i.e. it is dichotomous. This mutation has occurred in three different banana types in 'Dwarf Cavendish and 'Gross Michel' in the AAA group and in 'Maiamaiole' in the AAB group. At the time of writing I am not sure to which of the above this plant belongs. Musa 'Dwarf Red'. This is a somewhat imprecise name that could refer to Musa (AAA group) 'Red' but is instead probably a clone of Musa (AAB group) 'Jamaica Red'. The plant is a chimera with one layer of "red" tissue fitted like a glove over a two part "green" core. Chimeras are notoriously unstable and the red and green tissue types tend to separate out. In practice, when this happens the green core bursts out of the red "glove" forming all green plants and the red layer effectively disappears. In cultivation therefore, suckers may spontaneously revert to the all green state. They don't revert back! Musa ensete. The correct name for this species is Ensete ventricosum. Musa 'Grand Nain'. The correct name for this cultivar is Musa (AAA group) 'Grand Nain'. 'Grand Nain' belongs to a subgroup of cultivated bananas called the 'Cavendish' subgroup that is the source of the banana fruit in the shops. Members of the 'Cavendish' subgroup vary in plant height and certain other characters but the quality of the fruit is essentially the same in each case. 'Grand Nain' is of medium height within the 'Cavendish' subgroup and is a useful commercial cultivar. There are alternative spellings for the words that form the name such as 'Grande', 'Gran' and Naine' which are used in different permutations. Musa hookeri. The correct name for this species is Musa sikkimensis. This Indian species was inadvertently introduced into commerce as Musa hookeri. Sometimes you may see the name spelled Musa hookerii. Although the name was quickly changed by the seed supplier the incorrect name is still rather commonly used. Musa 'Kru'. The correct name for this cultivar is Musa (AA group) 'Kru'. This is an interesting cultivar from Papua New Guinea and reputedly has the best tasting fruit of all the bananas. The story of the plant is as follows. It was collected in the 1960's by George Argent (RBG Edinburgh) from a village in the Madang District of PNG and became part of the Musa collection at Lae on the northern cost of PNG. A gentleman called Al Will of Broward Community College in Florida visited the Lae collection and collected suckers which were taken back to Florida in 1970. 'Kru' is a beautiful plant suffused with shades of red and the skin of the ripe fruit is bright reddish-purple. The plant was named after a species of reef fish that has similar colouration to the fruit. It was not named after a village as is sometimes said. 'Kru' is an ornamental plant and the fruit is strikingly attractive, edible and, apparently, of superb flavour. Not surprisingly the plant became widely distributed in the sub-tropical and tropical regions of the USA. The Lae collection in PNG has long since disappeared although the cultivar presumably can still be found in the villages of the Madang District. However, the plant is micropropagated and widely distributed in the USA from where it has been introduced into the UK. In his "Complete Book of Bananas, W. O. Lessard writes that 'Kru' belongs to the ABB group. George Argent thinks that it is an AA which is a very diverse genome group in Papua New Guinea. Musa lasiocarpa. The correct name for this species is Musella lasiocarpa. See the entry for Musella lasiocarpa. Musa 'Mysore'. The correct name for this cultivar is Musa (AAB group) 'Mysore'. This is an Indian banana cultivar better known, in south India anyway, as 'Poovan'. It is a large vigorous plant and can yield a heavy crop which accounts for its name in the West Indies, 'Fillbasket'. Musa nana. The correct name for Musa nana is Musa (AAA group) 'Dwarf Cavendish'. Musa nana is a species name given to a banana cultivar in 1790 at a time when the true nature of bananas was not understood and they were thought all to be species. See the entry for Musa 'Dwarf Cavendish'. Musa 'Orinoco'. The correct name for this cultivar is probably Musa (ABB group) 'Quadrano' although it is now very widely known as 'Orinoco'. The name 'Orinoco' is due to W. O. Lessard who first encountered the plant growing by the Orinoco River. Lessard was a pioneer banana nurseryman in Florida who wrote a very influential but sometimes inaccurate book on bananas. It is a shame that Lessard seemingly chose to re-name the plant because it seems there is another 'Orinoco' on Cuba belonging to the AAB group. Also the name 'Quadrano' nicely refers to the strongly 4-angled fruit, common among plants of the ABB genotype. It is a dual purpose banana and can be used for cooking as a vegetable or when fully ripe eaten as a desert fruit. 'Orinoco' is one of those cultivars that gives the lie to the suggestion that there is a real distinction between dessert "bananas" and cooking "plantains". But its main claim to fame is its hardiness. 'Orinoco' is one of the most cold tolerant bananas bearing edible fruit. If it is possible to fruit a banana outdoors in the UK, and they are not likely to be as flavoursome as those from the supermarket, it is likely that it will be 'Orinoco' or 'Rajapuri'. In the USA, mature leaves of Orinoco have been reported to be hardy to minus 1º - 0º C (30º - 32º F) with wind, see the following website: http://unix.utb.edu/~paullgj/tropicalagriculture/tropag.html Musa ornata. The true Musa ornata is from India and is a small species, from 1 m. to 3 m. tall depending on growing conditions. It is an attractive plant with blue-green foliage and an inflorescence with lilac-pink bracts subtending orange-yellow flowers. It belongs to the Musa section Rhodochlamys. The species has been awarded an RHS AGM but there is no AGM-form as such. It is a greenhouse or conservatory plant in the UK. Musa ornata is an adaptable little plant and one of the earliest and greatest Musa travellers. From its home in India it reached Central and South America early in the 19th century where it became naturalised to such an extent that, more than once, it has been mistaken for a native American banana. Musa ornata is not an especially variable plant in itself but it hybridises freely with the result that there are a number of hybrids derived from it especially in tropical America. Like "true" Musa ornata these tend to have attractive inflorescences and are grown on a large scale, in Costa Rica for example, as cut flowers for the north American market. These cut flower Musa ornata-types are a mixed bunch. Some are simply "pure" Musa ornata given a specious cultivar name; Americans are particularly fond, for no good reason, of giving cultivar names to species which can be very confusing. Some are hybrids of unknown parentage but that no doubt includes Musa ornata. Some are not Musa ornata or indeed hybrids at all but other Musa species mislabelled. The particular significance of Musa ornata's tendency to hybridise is that most of the seed sold commercially as Musa ornata originates in Central or South America and may not therefore be the "pure" species. There is also the intriguing probability that Musa ornata is not a normal species anyway but a "secondary species", a relic of a hybrid swarm between Musa flaviflora and Musa velutina! Musa x paradisiaca. Musa paradisiaca (just forget the x as it is completely irrelevant) is a very precise name almost always used in such an imprecise manner as to render it meaningless. In a precise sense Musa paradisiaca is the "type specimen" for the whole genus Musa, that is, it was the first Musa named by Linnaeus when he founded modern botanical nomenclature in his Species Plantarum of 1753. Linnaeus' type specimen has been identified as the cultivar Musa (AAB group) 'French' plantain. This cultivar is not offered anywhere in the UK at present. Some authors use Musa paradisiaca as the Linnean name for all cultivated bananas. This really is not justifiable not least because it lumps together different plants that are quite distinct from each other and from 'French' plantain. Also there is another perfectly good nomenclature system based on the genome group (used in this list) that allows the various types to be clearly differentiated. Musa 'Rajapuri'. The correct name for this cultivar is Musa (AAB group) 'Rajapuri'. This is an Indian cultivar said by some to be India's favourite banana but this is something of an exaggeration, a bit like saying the UK's favourite cherry is the Mazzard. I have yet to find anyone in India who has heard of it. Nevertheless, Rajapuri is a semi-dwarf plant otherwise similar to a rather rare Indian cultivar called Nendra Padaththi. It was once thought that 'Rajapuri' derived by mutation from Nendra Padaththi but this now seems not to be the case. It is possible that Rajapuri itself is simply very restricted in its occurrence in India. Despite the fact that it seems to originate in south India its main claim to fame is its cold tolerance. 'Rajapuri' is one of the most cold tolerant bananas bearing edible fruit. If it is possible to fruit a banana outdoors in the UK, and they are not likely to be as flavoursome as those from the supermarket, it is likely that it will be 'Rajapuri' or 'Orinoco'. In the USA, mature leaves of Rajapuri have been reported to be hardy to 0º - 1.5º C (32º - 35º F) with wind although emerging leaves are damaged by wind and temperatures lower than about 4º C - see the following link: http://unix.utb.edu/~paullgj/tropicalagriculture/tropag.html Musa 'Red Iholena'. The correct name for this cultivar is Musa (AAA group) 'Red Iholena'. This is a red mutant of the Hawaiian cultivar 'Iholena'. The fruit of this banana is dual purpose and can be eaten uncooked as a desert fruit or cooked as a vegetable. This is one of those cultivars that gives the lie to the suggestion that there is a real distinction between dessert "bananas" and cooking "plantains". Musa sikkimensis. Musa sikkimensis is the correct species name and belongs to the Musa section Musa (1). The name Musa hookeri or, worse, Musa hookerii is sometimes wrongly applied to this species. This is a beautiful, cold tolerant foliage plant from north-eastern India but just how cold tolerant is not yet known. Until Musa sikkimensis was introduced we had only one banana, Musa basjoo, that could be expected to perform reliably in UK gardens. Musa basjoo is still a good plant but Musa sikkimensis is rather more attractive. Grown from seed the plant is rather variable in colouration but good forms of the species have leaves that are glossy olive-green on the upper surface and with a red midribs. The lower leaf surface is flushed with reddish-purple. Even better forms are splashed with red markings on the upper surface of the leaf somewhat resembling those of Musa acuminata zebrina. They are striking plants in the garden. At the moment, Musa sikkimensis is grown from seed and the colouration of plants available commercially is rather variable. But it won't be too long before the best coloured forms are micropropagated to give consistent quality. Musa uranoscopus. The situation with this species is a little complicated. First, the spelling given in the Plant Finder is incorrect. The original (and correct) spelling of the epithet is "uranoscopos" meaning "star gazer" which is a wonderful ancient Greek name for a plant with an upright inflorescence. The spelling "uranoscopus" is an unnecessarily Latinised version of the name. Second, the names Musa uranoscopos and Musa coccinea are used interchangeably for the same small banana plant from Indo-China. It grows to about 1.5 m. high with bright green foliage and an upright inflorescence with red bracts with yellow tips and yellow flowers. You may see it written that the flowers are blue; they are not. It may be that the two names really do refer to a single species from Indo-China and if this is true then the correct name, being the older one, is Musa uranoscopos. Or it may be that there are two very similar species that nonetheless deserve different names. The true situation is not known for sure and it is not a simple matter to resolve. In the meantime both names are in use. The plant belongs to the Musa section Callimusa, well, for the time being it does anyway, there is emerging evidence that it does not quite fit there. The species has been awarded an RHS AGM as Musa uranoscopus but there is no AGM-form as such. Musa velutina. Musa velutina is the correct name of this little banana species from north-east India belonging to the Musa section Rhodochlamys. It is a greenhouse or conservatory plant under UK conditions. The vegetative plant suckers freely and has glossy green leaves with a slight red flush underneath. Like many banana species Musa velutina is somewhat variable in stature. Some plants may flower when the plant is less than 1 metre tall, others flower at 2.5 metres or more. The inflorescence is upright and has dark pink bracts subtending pale yellow flowers. The fruits are red-purple, the banana skin covered in tiny hairs giving them a velvety appearance. The fruits split open when ripe to reveal the white flesh; the fruit of very few banana species splits in this way. The fruit is not edible the flesh being insipid and full of small black seeds. Musa violacea. There is no such species as Musa violacea although the name is often used by nurseries and seed suppliers. Musa violacea is an invalid name but it has been recently applied by a banana seed collector in South America to ornamental plants with purplish inflorescence bracts. These plants are derived from Musa ornata but may result from hybridisation with other Musa species, probably Musa velutina. Although there are no Musa species native to the Americas Musa ornata has effectively become naturalised in Central and South America where a number of imported species and hybrids are also grown as cut flowers, mainly for the North American market. See also the section on Musa ornata. I have also heard anecdotally that the name Musa violacea has been applied to plants that turned out to be Ensete ventricosum. Musa 'Williams Hybrid'. The correct name for this cultivar is Musa (AAA group) 'Williams Hybrid' or more usually just 'Williams'. This is a mutant of 'Giant Cavendish' and is a commercial fruiting banana cultivar. Musella lasiocarpa. Musella lasiocarpa is the correct name for this somewhat enigmatic little species that is sometimes listed as Musa lasiocarpa. There is still some doubt as to which genus it belongs to but best current evidence suggests it truly belongs in a genus on its own. Previously thought to be endemic to China, Musella is now known to occur in the northern hills of Vietnam and Laos. Musella is rather new to cultivation. It is cold tolerant and grows well outdoors in the UK in summer although somewhat more slowly than, say, Ensete ventricosum or Musa basjoo. It can be overwintered outdoors but only with difficulty and is best brought under protection for the winter. Musella has a very characteristic shape; with its conical pseudostem and grey-green leaves held rather stiffly upright it somewhat resembles a large shuttlecock. Unfortunately, the inflorescence is so massive that the leaves of the plant are forced horizontal as it emerges rather destroying the neat appearance of the vegetative plant. However, this is more than compensated for by the extraordinary inflorescence which is a massive club-shaped structure rather like a large yellow globe artichoke, and takes months to complete flowering. Musella grows to about 1.2 metres tall outdoors but may be much taller in a greenhouse. Not listed in Plant Finder but listed elsewhere as available in UK. Musa wilsonii. There are some banana species that collectors avidly seek and sometimes even find and yet they do not exist. Musa nepalensis is one such species and Musa wilsonii, the subject of this note, is another. How can a species be described and named and then later disappear from existence as it were into thin air? In fact this can happen very easily if it is later realised that the original identification of the species was incorrect and the plant is re-classified as something else. The story of Musa wilsonii begins in 1899 when Ernest "Chinese" Wilson returned to Hong Kong from Yunnan with seeds of a new Musa. The seeds were germinated in Hong Kong botanic garden and grown to flowering size and identified as a new species by the Superintendent of the gardens, a Mr Tutcher, who named the species after its discoverer. In 1947 the genus Ensete was created (in the modern sense) by E. E. Cheesman and he re-named Musa wilsonii as Ensete wilsonii. Then in 1960 N. W. Simmonds determined that Ensete wilsonii was no different to Ensete glaucum and, with the stroke of the pen, so to speak, the species born Musa wilsonii ceased to exist. All this was of purely academic interest and would have remained so were it not for the fact that Musa wilsonii reportedly occurred up to 2,700 m. in Yunnan and, somewhere along the line, acquired the name "Snow Banana" implying that it is remarkably hardy. For this particular reason European nurseries and seed suppliers would dearly like to offer it and plant collectors in China would dearly like to supply them. But if the plant does not exist how can it be supplied? Not everyone chooses to accept the plant does not exist and instead they strive to be first to offer it. It is extremely difficult to find a species that in reality does not exist and in the ensuing scramble to find it the name Musa wilsonii is often applied imprecisely. In 2000 the name has been applied mistakenly to no less than three different species. The first of these is Ensete glaucum. As mentioned above Musa wilsonii was reclassified as Ensete wilsonii in 1947 which was in turn reclassified as Ensete glaucum in 1960. But, I must warn you, the story is even more complicated. Very recently Ensete wilsonii was revived as a species distinct from Ensete glaucum by the Flora of China project, first in a short note in 1997 and more formally in volume 24 of the flora published in 2000. The name Ensete wilsonii was applied to an Ensete species that occurs up to 2,700 m in Yunnan province. That seemed to settle the matter definitively except that it now seems that Flora of China volume 24 is wrong. The separation of Ensete wilsonii and Ensete glaucum seems to be based on very shaky evidence and Ensete wilsonii should probably be absorbed back into Ensete glaucum. The uncertainty here is simply an indication of how difficult are the Musaceae taxonomically. Let us just accept for the moment that Musa wilsonii or Ensete wilsonii really are Ensete glaucum. In that case it is presumably quite acceptable for nursery or seedsmen to list Ensete glaucum and give Musa wilsonii or Ensete wilsonii as synonyms. The answer I am afraid is, not necessarily. In order to know whether Musa wilsonii or Ensete wilsonii are properly used as synonyms for Ensete glaucum one needs to know the precise origin of the seed or plants in question. Musa wilsonii/Ensete wilsonii is endemic to Yunnan province in China, meaning that it naturally occurs nowhere else. However, Ensete glaucum also occurs in Yunnan and is much more common there than Musa wilsonii/Ensete wilsonii. Further, Ensete glaucum is not endemic to Yunnan but has a very wide range throughout east Asia reaching even to remote parts of eastern Papua New Guinea. Nurseries and seed suppliers tend to be rather free with their use of synonyms to establish a relationship between what they think will sell and what they actually have. If it can be guaranteed that Ensete glaucum seed comes from Yunnan then it is just about acceptable to use the name Ensete wilsonii as a synonym. But if the Ensete glaucum seed comes, say, from India then it is quite wrong to associate the name Ensete wilsonii with it. Even if the Ensete glaucum seed comes from Yunnan there is no guarantee that the seed is from the highest altitude plants and therefore likely to be very cold tolerant. The second species to which the name Musa wilsonii has been applied is, probably, Musa basjoo. Banana seed labelled as "Musa wilsonii" and collected at "very high altitude" in Yunnan Province in China was offered commercially in the UK in 2000. It can be said with certainty that this is not Musa wilsonii or Ensete wilsonii. The name was applied to the seed by the seed collector in China who presumably thought he or she really was collecting Musa wilsonii or thought that using the name would make the seed more marketable. The seed is Musa seed and that means that it cannot be Musa wilsonii. As mentioned above Musa wilsonii is actually a synonym of Ensete glaucum and Ensete seed is quite different to Musa seed in shape and size. I know of only one plant raised from this seed and that plant looks like Musa basjoo. It would not be surprising if the plant was Musa basjoo since this is a Chinese species and occurs in Yunnan. The third species is called Musa "Yunnan", see below. Musa "Yunnan". The story of this seed is strangely similar to the "Musa wilsonii" mentioned above, i.e. it was collected at "very high altitude" in Yunnan Province in China. It was offered to a German seed company by a Chinese collector as Musa wilsonii. The seed company realised the name was wrong and gave the seed the provisional name of Musa "Yunnan" pending formal identification. This seed is different to the seed of "Musa wilsonii" mentioned above and it is clear that the resultant plants are different and are definitely not Musa basjoo. Their true identity is not yet confirmed. The fact that the seed of "Yunnan" was collected at high altitude suggests that the plants may be rather cold hardy and they do seem to be standing well in an unheated glasshouse. Whatever the correct identification plants from this seed are attractive with distinctive blue-green leaves. Some seedlings have a red flush on the undersides of the leaves. Musa ornata 'Red Salmon'. The correct name for this cultivar is Musa laterita. Many of the plants grown in the trade as cultivars of Musa ornata are of hybrid origin but 'Red Salmon' is actually a true species. Musa laterita is a small banana from the north east of India and Burma and belongs to the Musa section Rhodochlamys. The name derives from the colour of the bracts which is rather like the brick-red tropical soil called laterite. It is a greenhouse or conservatory plant under UK conditions. The vegetative plant suckers freely and, unlike most Musa, the suckers are borne at the end of long rhizomes. So instead of the typical clumped appearance of most bananas, Musa laterita has a rather open habit. In a greenhouse bed or in a garden in the tropics Musa laterita is a rather unruly plant that "travels" from its planting place. Fortunately the plant is quite amenable to pot culture where the long rhizomes will not be apparent until the plant is re-potted. The leaf blades are a bright green with a reddish midrib and taper very gradually into the leaf stalk or petiole. The plant often flowers at around 1 to 1.5 m tall. The inflorescence is upright and has brick-red bracts subtending yellow female flowers borne at the ends of little green bananas. The fruits become yellowish when ripe but are not edible, the flesh being insipid and full of small black seeds. These notes copyright David Constantine © 2000 |
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