Musa balbisiana

Musa balbisiana
The wild banana plant
The fruit of M. balbisiana, showing numerous seeds
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Musaceae
Genus: Musa
Species: M. balbisiana
Binomial name
Musa balbisiana
Colla 1820
Original native ranges of the ancestors of modern edible bananas: M. acuminata is shown in green and M. balbisiana in orange.[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • M. bakeri Hook.f.
  • M. brachycarpa Backer
  • M. dechangensis J.L.Liu & M.G.Liu
  • M. liukiuensis (Matsum.) Makino ex Kuroiwa
  • M. × paradisiaca var. granulosa G.Forst.
  • M. pruinosa (King ex Baker) Burkill
  • M. × sapientum var. pruinosa (King ex Baker) A.M.Cowan & Cowan

Musa balbisiana is a wild-type species of banana native to eastern South Asia, northern Southeast Asia, and southern China. It is one of the ancestors of modern cultivated bananas, along with Musa acuminata. It was first scientifically described in 1820 by the Italian botanist Luigi Aloysius Colla.[3] It grows lush leaves in clumps with a more upright habit than most cultivated bananas. Flowers grow in inflorescences coloured red to maroon. The fruit are between blue and green. They are considered inedible because of the seeds they contain. It may be assumed that wild bananas were cooked and eaten or agriculturalists would not have developed the cultivated banana.[4] Seeded Musa balbisiana fruit are called butuhan ('with seeds') in the Philippines,[5] and kluai tani (กล้วยตานี) in Thailand.[6] Natural parthenocarpic clones occur through polyploidy and produce edible bananas, examples of which are wild saba bananas.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Edmond de Langhe & Pierre de Maret (2004). "Tracking the banana: its significance in early agriculture". In Jon G. Hather. The Prehistory of Food: Appetites for Change. Routledge. p. 372. ISBN 978-0-203-20338-5.
  2. ↑ "Build checklist for Musa". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2013-01-22.
  3. ↑ "Musa paradisiaca". users.globalnet.co.uk.
  4. ↑ Musa balbisiana Archived October 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ "Progenitors of Edible Bananas". Guide to Growing Bananas. November 1, 2010. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  6. ↑ Plant use in Southern Thailand (PDF). Chiang Mai University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-04-13.
  7. ↑ Michel H. Porcher; Prof. Snow Barlow (July 19, 2002). "Sorting Musa names". The University of Melbourne. Retrieved January 11, 2011.


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