Musa glauca

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Musaceae

Herbs perennial or monocarpic , growing from sympodial rhizomes or a massive, sympodial corm. Pseudostems composed of closely packed leaf sheaths . Leaves spirally arranged , petiolate ; leaf blade entire, pinnately veined. Inflorescence terminal or rarely axillary , cymose . Bracts spirally arranged, often brilliantly colored , spathelike, large. Flowers bisexual or unisexual by abortion , zygomorphic. Perianth in 2 whorls; 3 outer tepals and 2 inner ones united into a compound tepal; third inner tepal free. Stamens 5, free ; anthers 2-loculed. Pistil 1; ovary inferior, 3-loculed; ovules numerous per locule, anatropous ; placentation axile . Style simple or capitate. Fruit a berry, fleshy or leathery and dry, indehiscent. Seeds hard, not arillate ; embryo straight, surrounded by a well-developed endosperm and a mealy perisperm .

Three genera and ca. 40 species: tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and Asia; three genera (one endemic) and 14 species (four endemic, three introduced ) in China.[1]

Genus Musa

Underground stems (corms) rhizomatous , short, pseudostems clustered, [0.5--]3--10 m. Leaf blades unlobed (older leaves often split to midrib ), oblong or oblong-elliptic, [0.6--]2--3 ´ 0.3--0.6 m. Inflorescences pendent [erect ]; pistillate flowers crowded, numerous ; bracts of staminate flowers imbricate, forming budlike mass at apex of inflorescence. Berries cylindric , usually ± curved , weakly angled in cross section , [10--]20--35 cm, soft, fleshy . x = 10, 11.

Species ca. 30 (1 species and 1 stable h: introduced ; Asia (India to Japan and Indonesia), Australia (Queensland), Pacific Islands (and Oceania) ; often persisting around gardens and plantations in North America, Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America, Africa, Oceania Pacific Islands (Oceania).

Species of Musa are very important economically throughout the wet tropics. The fruits of several species are edible; they may be sweet (bananas) or starchy (plantains), and may be eaten raw or cooked. Some species are important fiber sources, especially M. textilis Née (abacá or Manila-hemp), and others are grown as ornamentals in subtropical and tropical regions . In addition, the plants have many minor uses in the tropics: banana leaves are used for wrapping and various other purposes, and the corms, the interior of the pseudostems, and the buds of staminate flowers are eaten as vegetables. Bananas used in North America are almost always sweet-fruited cultivars, imported from Central America to be eaten raw or used in cooking.

Prior to 1948, the taxonomy of cultivated bananas was not understood. Since then, it has become clear that most of the cultivated bananas are parthenocarpic diploids, triploids, and tetraploids (2n = 22, 33, 44) derived either from Musa acuminata Colla, M. balbisiana Colla, or hybrids between them (M. ´ paradisiaca Linnaeus). The most common crop bananas in North and Central America are triploid races of M. acuminata (genotype AAA) and triploid M. paradisiaca with two sets of chromosomes from M. acuminata and one from M. balbisiana (genotype AAB). Those two types are very similar morphologically; distinguishing them reliably requires numerical scoring of a large number of characters from the pseudostem, petiole , peduncle, bracts of staminate flowers, and staminate and pistillate flowers (N. W. Simmonds and K . Shepherd 1955), many of which are very difficult to score on herbarium material . The ranges given below, based on herbarium specimens, are tentative, and need to be checked in the field .[2]

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Ensete glaucum (Roxb.) Cheesman

Notes

Publishing author : Roxb. Publication : Hort. Bengal. 19; Fl. Ind. i. 669.

Similar Species

Members of the genus Musa

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 69 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

M. acuminata (Blood Banana) · M. acuminata microcarpa (Small-Fruited Wild Banana) · M. acuminata siamea (Thai Wild Banana) · M. acuminata 'Zebrina' (Zebrina Blood Banana) · M. acuminata 'Dwarf Cavendish' (Dwarf Cavendish Dwarf Banana) · M. acuminata 'Dwarf Namwah' (Dwarf Banana) · M. acuminata 'Dwarf Namwah Pearl' (Variegated Dwarf Banana) · M. acuminata 'Enano Gigante' (Dwarf Giant Banana) · M. acuminata 'High Color Mini' (Dwarf Banana) · M. acuminata 'Ice Cream' (Ice Cream Banana) · M. acuminata 'Java Blue' (Dwarf Banana) · M. acuminata 'Lacatan' (Lacatan Banana) · M. acuminata 'Lady Finger' (Banana) · M. acuminata 'Novak' (Banana) · M. acuminata 'Rajapuri' (Banana) · M. acuminata 'Super Dwarf' (Banana) · M. acuminata 'Williams' (Dwarf Banana) · M. balbisiana (Banana) · M. basjoo (Hardy Fiber Banana) · M. bihai (Bastard Plantain) · M. coccinea (Banana) · M. fehi (Hawaiian Ornamental Banana) · M. fitzalanii (Daintree´s River Banana (Australia)) · M. glauca (Seeded Sweet Banana) · M. halabanensis (West Sumatra Wild Banana) · M. itinerans (Yunnan Banana) · M. jackeyi (Johnstone River Banana (Australia)) · M. nana (Dwarf Banana) · M. nepalensis (Nepal Banana) · M. ornata (Banana) · M. ornata 'Milky Way' (Milky Way Flowering Banana) · M. paradisiaca (French Plantain) · M. paradisiaca normalis (French Plantain) · M. paradisiaca var. paradisiaca (Banana) · M. paradisiaca var. sapientum (French Plantain) · M. salaccensis (Javanese Wild Banana) · M. sikkimensis (Darjeeling Banana) · M. sumatrana 'Rojo' (Red Banana Tree) · M. textilis (Abaca) · M. troglodytarum (Fe'i Banana) · M. troglodytarum var. rubrifolia (Fe´i Banana) · M. uranoscopos (Banana) · M. velutina (Hairy Banana) · M. × paradisiaca (French Plantain) · M. x paradisiaca 'Mysore' (Ae-Ae) · M. x paradisiaca 'Saba' (Papaya Banana) · M. zebrina 'Rojo' (Blood Banana) · M. 'African Rhino Horn' (Banana) · M. 'Bordelon' (Banana) · M. 'Cardaba' (Banana) · M. 'Double Mahoi' (Banana) · M. 'Dwarf Orinoco' (Dwarf Orinoco Banana) · M.'Dwarf Puerto Rican' (Dwarf Puerto Rican Banana) · M. 'Dwarf Red' (Banana) · M. 'FHIA-21' (Banana) · M. 'Giant' (French Plantain) · M. 'Goldfinger' (Banana) · M. 'Gran Nain' (Banana) · M. 'Kru' (Banana) · M. 'Little Prince' (Banana) · M. 'Manzano' (Apple Banana) · M. 'Monkey Fingers' (Banana) · M. 'Pitogo' (Banana) · M. 'Praying Hands' (Praying Hands Banana) · M. 'Rajapuri' (Rajapuri Banana) · M. 'Red Iholena' (Banana) · M. 'Rowe Red' (Banana) · M. 'Thousand Fingers' (Banana) · M. 'Tuu Ghia' (Banana)

More Info

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Further Reading

• An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, Manila, Bureau of Printing, 1922-26. url p. 221.
• Annales du Jardin botanique de Buitenzorg. 33 1923 Leiden [etc.]: E. J. Brill [etc.] url p. 92.
• Botanical publications of E.D. Merrill. [New York, etc., 1899- url p. 221.
• Check-list of the species of fishes known from the Philippine Archipelago, Manila, Bureau of printing, 1910. url p. 104.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45 2003 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 555, p. 63.
• English cyclopaedia, a new dictionary of universal knowledge, conducted by Charles Knight. London, Bradbury, 1854-61. url .
• Flora Vitiensis nova: a new Flora of Fiji (spermatophytes only) / Albert C. Smith. Lawaii, Hawaii: Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, 1979- url p. 182.
• Preliminary report on the forest and other vegetation of Pegu. CalcuttaC.B. Lewis, Baptist Mission Press1875 url p. 46.
• Roxburgh, W. Flora indica;or, Descriptions of Indian plants, by the late William Roxburgh. Edited by Dr. William Carey; to which are added descriptions of plants more recently discovered by Dr. Nathaniel Wallich. Serampore, Printed at the Mission Press, 1820-24. url p. 490, p. 492.
• The Gardeners' chronicle and agricultural gazette. London: published for the proprietors, 1844-1873. url p. 684.
• The Gardeners' chronicle: a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects. London: [Gardeners Chronicle], 1874-1955. url p. 450.
• The Journal of heredity. Washington, etc., American Genetic Association url p. 275.
• The Philippine journal of science. 10 1915 Manila. url p. 386, p. 387, p. 416.
• The banana, its cultivation, distribution and commercial uses, London, Duckworth and co.[1921] url p. 267.
• The fibrous plants of India, fitted for cordage, clothing, and paper. With an account of the cultivation and preparation of flax, hemp, and their substitutes. London, Smith, Elder, and Co.;1855. url .
• The flora of British India /By J. D. Hooker assisted by various botanists. Published under the authority of the secretary of state for India in council. 6 1894 London: L. Reeve, 1875-97. url p. 262.
• The journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Calcutta: Bishop's College Press, 1832-1936 url p. 22.
• Transactions of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. [S.l.: s.n.], 1843-1920. url p. 139.
• Li Hsi-wen. 1981. Musaceae subfam. Musoideae. In: Wu Te-lin, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 16(2): 1--14.
• Simmonds, N. W. and K. Shepherd. 1955. The taxonomy and origins of the cultivated bananas. J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 55: 302--312.
• Stover, R. H. and N. W. Simmonds. 1987. Bananas, ed. 3. London..

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 12, 2012.

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3488938
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 15632530
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:797568-1
• GRIN Nomen Number: 24719
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 584943-1
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1088531

Footnotes

1. Delin Wu & W. John Kress "Musaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 314. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. "Musa". in Flora of North America Vol. 22. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

Curator for this page: David Constantine. Date last reviewed: 1899-12-30

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.