Musa acuminata |
Musaceae |
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edible banana |
banana family |
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Leaves | basal, in several ranks, differentiated into basal sheath, petiole, and blade; sheaths overlapping, forming unbranched pseudostem, open, ligule absent; summit of petiole not differentiated; blade with lateral veins parallel, diverging from prominent midrib. |
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Petioles | margins of adaxial groove erect, winged proximally. |
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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. |
1 per aerial shoot, projecting from tip of pseudostem, pedunculate racemes of 12–20-flowered monochasial cymes (cincinni); bracts of main axis enclosing cincinni. |
Flowers | unisexual (proximal flowers pistillate, distal flowers staminate), bilaterally symmetric; sepals and petals differentiated, sepals 3, petals 3, 3 sepals and 2 petals fused, remaining petal distinct; fertile stamens 5(–6), not petal-like; anthers 2-locular; occasionally 1 rudimentary staminode; ovary inferior, 3-carpellate, 3-locular, all locules fertile; placentation axile; ovules many per locule; style terminal, filiform; stigma 3-lobed. |
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Staminate flowers | white or cream. |
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Pistillate flowers | stigmas deep yellow or orange; each locule with 2 regular rows of ovules. |
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Fruits | berries; sepals not persistent in fruit. |
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Seeds | aril absent; endosperm copious; perisperm copious; embryo straight. |
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Pseudostems | heavily blotched with brown or black. |
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Treelike | herbs, perennial, from corm [rhizome] [corm]. |
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True | aerial stems absent. |
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x | = 9, 10, 11. |
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Musa acuminata |
Musaceae |
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Phenology | Flowering all year. | |
Habitat | Abandoned gardens and disturbed sites | |
Elevation | 0–10 m (0–0 ft) | |
Distribution |
FL; Mexico; Central America; West Indies; and South America; native; s Asia; Africa; Pacific Islands (; Oceania); native; s Asia [Introduced in North America] |
tropical parts of Africa; Asia; Australia; and Oceania; often persisting around gardens and plantations throughout the wet tropics [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | Genera 3, species ca. 40 (1 genus, 1 species, and 1 stable hybrid in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 22. | FNA vol. 22, p. 302. |
Parent taxa | Musaceae > Musa | |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | M. cavendishii | |
Name authority | Colla: Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino 25:66. (1820) | A. L. Jussieu |
Web links |