Flora of North America species comparison

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Musa acuminata

Musa paradisiaca

edible banana
Petioles

margins of adaxial groove erect, winged proximally.

margins of adaxial groove erect to incurved, ± winged proximally.
Inflorescences

pedicels short;

bracts of staminate flowers lanceolate or narrowly ovate, apex acute, abaxial surface yellow, red, or dull purple, adaxial surface yellow proximally, often yellow or dull purple distally.

pedicels rather long;

bracts of staminate flowers lanceolate to ovate, apex acute to broadly acute, abaxial surface purple, adaxial surface reddish purple or crimson.
Staminate flowers

white or cream.

Pistillate flowers

stigmas deep yellow or orange; each locule with 2 regular rows of ovules.

stigmas usually yellow; each locule with usually 2 ± regular rows of ovules.
Pseudostems

heavily blotched with brown or black.

moderately blotched.
Stam

inate flowers white, cream, or pink.

Musa acuminata

Musa paradisiaca
Phenology Flowering all year. Flowering all year.
Habitat Abandoned gardens and disturbed sites Abandoned gardens and disturbed sites
Elevation 0–10 m (0–0 ft) 0–20 m (0–100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; Mexico; Central America; West Indies; and South America; native; s Asia; Africa; Pacific Islands (; Oceania); native; s Asia [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Africa; Asia; Pacific Islands (Oceania) [Introduced in North America]
Discussion

Plants of Musa × paradisiaca combine the characters of the two parents, M. acuminata and M. balbisiana, in various ways. Musa acuminata is described above. In M. balbisiana, the blotching on the pseudostem is pale or absent, the margins of the adaxial groove of the petiole are incurved and not winged; the peduncle is glabrous, the pedicels are long, the bracts of staminate flowers are ovate and obtuse, widest at least 0.3 above the base, with the outer surface brownish purple and the inner surface uniformly bright crimson; the apex remains plane when bract spreads, and the bract scars are not very prominent. The flowers are often tinged with pink, the free tepal of the staminate flower is always plane, and the ovules are in 4 irregular rows per locule. The description of M. × paradisiaca is based on plants with the AAB genome, by far the commonest hybrid bananas in cultivation. For data on characteristics of various other strains of banana, see N. W. Simmonds and K. Shepherd (1955).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 22. FNA vol. 22.
Parent taxa Musaceae > Musa Musaceae > Musa
Sibling taxa
M. paradisiaca
M. acuminata
Synonyms M. cavendishii M. sapientum
Name authority Colla: Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino 25:66. (1820) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. (pro sp.) 2: 1043. 1753 (as species)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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