Edited by Ho Dinh Hai Long An - Vietnam Updated: 18/3/2015
1- Introduction to the Family Musaceae
1.1- Overview The Musaceae are a family of flowering plants, placed in the orderZingiberales. The family is native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. The plants have a large herbaceous growth habit with leaves with overlapping basal sheaths that form a pseudostem making some members appear to be woody trees. As currently circumscribed the family includes either two or three genera (depending upon acceptance of the genus Musella, see below). All of the genera and species are native to the Old World. The largest and most economically important genus in the family is Musa, famous for the banana and plantain.
1.2- History of Systematics - Before 1753 the genus had already been described by the pre-LinnaeanbotanistGeorg Eberhard Rumphiusand Linnaeus himself had described the banana he had seen as Musa cliffortianain 1736 (this might be described as a "pre-Linnaean" Linnaean name). - The genusMusawas formally established in the first edition ofLinnaeus' Species Plantarumin 1753 - the publication that marks the start of the present formal botanical nomenclature. At the time he wroteSpecies Plantarum, Linnaeus had first hand knowledge of only one type of banana, which he personally had the opportunity of seeing growing under glass in the garden of Mr. George Clifford nearHaarlemin the Netherlands. Banana plants were originally classified by Linnaeus into two species, which he called Musa paradisiaca - those used as cooking bananas (plantains), and Musa sapientum - those used as dessert bananas. - The 1753 nameMusa paradisiacaL. forplantainsandMusa sapientumL. for dessert bananasare now known to refer to hybrids, rather than natural species. It is known today that most cultivatedseedlessbananas arehybridsorpolyploidsof two wild banana species -Musa acuminataandMusa balbisiana. Linnaeus'Musa sapientumis now identified to be the hybridLatundancultivar (M. × paradisiacaAAB Group 'Silk'), while hisMusa paradisiacaare now known to be hybrids belonging generally to theAABandABBbananacultivar groups.Hybridization and polyploidy was the cause of much confusion in the taxonomy of the genusMusathat was not resolved until the 1940s and 1950s. In this clearing up of the taxonomy,Ernest Entwistle Cheesmanin 1947 revived the genus nameEnsetewhich had been published in 1862, by Horaninow, but had not been accepted. MusasectionMusellaFranch. was raised to the rank of genus by H.W. Li in 1978 for the Chinese speciesMusella lasiocarpa, which was originally described inMusain 1889 and transferred toEnseteby Cheesman in 1948. Acceptance ofMusellahas varied; as of February 2013, theWorld Checklist of Selected Plant Familiesconsiders it a synonym of Ensete. - The family has been practically universally recognized by taxonomists, although with differing circumscriptions. Older circumscriptions of the family commonly included the genera now included inHeliconiaceaeandStrelitziaceae. - The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, 1998), assigns Musaceae to the order Zingiberales in the clade commelinids in the monocots.
1.3- Genera In most treatments, the family has twogenera, MusaandEnsete. Cultivatedbananasare commercially important members of the family. 1- Genus Musa Musais one of two or threegenerain the family Musaceae; it includesbananasandplantains. Around 70speciesofMusaare known, with a broad variety of uses. Taxonomy: For a more detailed explanation of this system and a list of some edible banana and plantain cultivars using it, see theList of banana cultivars. 2- Genus Ensete Enseteis agenusofmonocarpicflowering plantsnativeto tropical regions of Africa and Asia. It is one of the two genera in thebananafamily, Musaceae, and includes the false banana or enset (E. ventricosum), an economically important food crop in Ethiopia. Taxonomy: It is possible to separateEnseteinto its African and Asian species. - African Species Ensete gilletii Ensete homblei Ensete perrieri- endemic toMadagascarbut intriguingly like the AsianE. glaucum Ensete ventricosum- enset or false banana, widely cultivated as a food plant in Ethiopia - Asian Species Ensete glaucum- widespread in Asia from India to Papua New Guinea Ensete lasiocarpum(Franch.) Cheesman - China, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar (Burma) Ensete superbum- Western Ghats of India Ensete wilsonii-Yunnan, China, but doubtfully distinct fromE. glaucum Ensetesp. "Thailand" - possibly a new species or a disjunct population ofE. superbum
Banana tree
Ensete tree
2- Two Main Genera of the Family Musaceae
2.1- TheGenus Musa + Overview - General: Musais one of two or threegenerain the family Musaceae; it includesbananasandplantains. Around 70speciesofMusaare known, with a broad variety of uses. Though they grow as high astrees, banana and plantain plants are notwoodyand their apparent "stem" is made up of the bases of the hugeleafstalks. Thus, they are technically giganticherbs. - The names: The GenusMusawas first named byCarl Linnaeusin 1753.The name is a Latinization of the Arabic name for the fruit,mauz.MauzmeaningMusais discussed in the 11th-century Arabic encyclopediaThe Canon of Medicine, which was translated to Latin in medieval times and well known in Europe.Muzis also the Turkish and Persian name for the fruit. Some sources assert thatMusais named forAntonius Musa, physician to the EmperorAugustus. The word "banana" came to English from Spanish and Portuguese, which in turn apparently obtained it from a West African language (possiblyWolof). From the time of Linnaeus until the 1940s, different types of edible bananas and plantains were given Linnaean binomial names, such as Musa cavendishii, as if they were species. In fact, edible bananas have an extremely complicated origin involving hybridization, mutation, and finally selection by humans. Most edible bananas are seedless (parthenocarpic), hence sterile, so they are propagated vegetatively. The giving of species names to what are actually very complex, largely asexual, hybrids (mostly of two species of wild bananas, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana) led to endless confusion in banana botany. In the 1940s and 1950s, it became clear to botanists that the cultivated bananas and plantains could not usefully be assigned Linnean binomials, but were better given cultivar names.
+ Taxonomy of TheGenus Musa - Sections Ernest Entwistle Cheesmancarried out a major revision of theMusaceaein the 1940s. Following his approach, the genusMusawas divided into five sections:Ingentimusa, Australimusa, Callimusa, Musa, andRhodochlamys. These were reduced to three in 2002. Previously, the2n = 20 - chromosome species were separated into the sections AustralimusaandCallimusa. Two others: the 2n = 22 - chromosome species were separated into the sectionsMusaandRhodochlamys. Studies have shown that genetic differences between each section in the same chromosome group are smaller than those within each section. This means the traditional separation of the sections can no longer be substantiated. Wong's studies do, however, maintain the separation between the 20- and 22-chromosome species. At present, the 2n = 14 chromosomeIngentimusasection also remains distinct. - Species TheWorld Checklist of Selected Plant Familiesaccepts 68 species and two primary hybrids, as of January 2013, which are listed below.The assignment to sections is based onGRIN(where this gives the species),regrouped according to Wong et al. - Cultivars Banana cultivars derived fromMusa acuminataandMusa balbisianacan be classified into cultivar groups using two criteria. - The first is the number ofchromosomes: whether the plant isdiploid,triploidortetraploid. - The second is relationship to the two ancestral species, which may be determined bygenetic analysisor by a scoring system devised by Simmonds and Shepherd. A cultivar is scored on 15 characters, chosen because they differ between the two species. Each character is given a score between one and five according to whether it is typical ofMusa acuminataor ofMusa babisianaor is in between. Thus the total score for a cultivar will range from 15 if all characters agree withMusa acuminatato 75 if all characters agree withMusa balbisiana. Intermediate scores suggest mixed ancestry: for example, 45 would be expected for diploids with equal genetic contributions from both species. Groups are then named using a combination of the letters "A" and "B". The number of letters shows the ploidy; the proportion of As and Bs the contributions of the ancestral species. The AAB Group, for example, comprises triploid cultivars with more genetic inheritance fromMusa acuminatathanMusa balbisiana. A character score of around 35 is expected for members of this group. Within groups, cultivars may be divided into subgroups and then given a cultivar name, e.g.MusaAAA Group (Cavendish Subgroup) 'Robusta'. List of banana cultivars
1- AA Group DiploidMusa acuminata, both wild banana plants and cultivars: - Chingan banana - Lacatan banana - Lady Finger banana(Sugar banana) - Pisang jari buaya(Crocodile fingers banana) - Señorita banana(Monkoy, Arnibal banana, Cuarenta dias, Cariñosa, Pisang Empat Puluh Hari, Pisang Lampung) - Sinwobogi banana 2- AAA Group TriploidMusa acuminata, both wild banana plants and cultivars: + Cavendish Subgroup: - 'Dwarf Cavendish' - 'Giant Cavendish'('Williams') - 'Grand Nain'('Chiquita') - 'Masak Hujau' - 'Robusta' - 'Red Dacca' - Dwarf Red banana - Gros Michel banana + East African Highland bananas(AAA-EA subgroup) 3- AAAA Group TetraploidMusa acuminata, both wild bananas and cultivars: - Bodles Altafort banana - Golden Beauty banana 4- AAAB Group Tetraploid cultivars ofMusa×paradisiaca - Atan banana - Goldfinger banana 5- AAB Group Triploid cultivars ofMusa×paradisiaca. This group contains: + The Plantain subgroup, composed of "true" plantains or African Plantains - whose centre of diversity is Central and West Africa, where a large number of cultivars were domesticated following the introduction of ancestral Plantains from Asia, possibly 2000-3000 years ago. + The Iholena and Maoli-Popo'ulu subgroups are referred to as Pacific plantains. + Iholena subgroup -subgroup of cooking bananas domesticated in the Pacific region + Maoli-Popo'ulu subgroup -subgroup of cooking bananas domesticated in the Pacific region - Maqueño banana - Popoulu banana + Mysore subgroup -cooking and dessert bananas - Mysore banana + Pisang Raja subgroup - Pisang Raja banana + Plantain subgroup - French plantain - Green French banana - Horn plantain&Rhino Horn banana - Nendran banana - Pink French banana - Tiger banana + Pome subgroup - Pome banana - Prata-anã banana(Dwarf Brazilian banana, Dwarf Prata) + Silk subgroup - Latundan banana(Silk banana, Apple banana) + Others - Pisang Seribu banana - Plu banana 6- AABB Group Tetraploid cultivars ofMusa×paradisiaca - Kalamagol banana - Pisang Awak(Ducasse banana) 7- AB Group Diploid cultivars ofMusa×paradisiaca - Ney Poovan banana 8- ABB Group Triploid cultivars ofMusa×paradisiaca + Blue Java banana subgroup(Ice Cream banana, Ney mannan, Ash plantain, Pata hina, Dukuru, Vata) + Bluggoe subgroup - Bluggoe banana - Silver Bluggoe banana - Pelipita banana(Pelipia, Pilipia) + Saba subgroup - Saba banana(Cardaba, Dippig) - Cardaba banana - Benedetta banana 9- ABBB Group Tetraploid cultivars ofMusa×paradisiaca - Tiparot banana 10- BB Group DiploidMusa balbisiana, wild bananas 11- BBB Group TriploidMusa balbisiana, wild bananas and cultivars - Kluai Lep Chang Kut(?) Source: List of banana cultivars - From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banana_cultivars.
+ Taxonomy The genus Ensete was first described by Paul Fedorowitsch Horaninow (1796-1865) in his Prodromus Monographiae Scitaminarum of 1862 in which he created a single species, Ensete edule. However, the genus did not receive general recognition until 1947 when it was revived by E. E. Cheesman in the first of a series of papers in the Kew Bulletin on the classification of the bananas, with a total of 25 species. Taxonomically, the genus Ensete has shrunk since Cheesman revived the taxon. Cheesman acknowledged that field study might reveal synonymy and the most recent review of the genus by Simmonds (1960) listed just six. Recently the number has increased to seven as the Flora of China has, not entirely convincingly, reinstated Ensete wilsonii. There is one species in Thailand, somewhat resembling Ensete superbum, that has not been formally described, and possibly other Asian species. It is possible to separate Ensete into its African and Asian species. - African Species Ensete gilletii Ensete homblei Ensete perrieri- endemic to Madagascar but intriguingly like the Asian E. glaucum Ensete ventricosum- enset or false banana, widely cultivated as a food plant in Ethiopia - Asian Species Ensete glaucum- widespread in Asia from India to Papua New Guinea Ensete lasiocarpum(Franch.) Cheesman - China, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar (Burma) Ensete superbum- Western Ghats of India Ensete wilsonii- Yunnan, China, but doubtfully distinct from E. glaucum Ensetesp. "Thailand" - possibly a new species or a disjunct population of E. superbum Source: Ensete- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensete .