Musa sikkimensis

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Musa sikkimensis
Musa sikkimensis in the Quarryhill Botanical Garden
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Musaceae
Genus: Musa
Section: Musa sect. Musa
Species:
M. sikkimensis
Binomial name
Musa sikkimensis
Kurz (1877)[1]

Musa sikkimensis, also called Darjeeling banana, is a species of the genus Musa. It is one of the highest altitude banana species[2] and is found in Bhutan and India.

Description[edit]

The plant is robust and about 4 m tall with a yellowish-green foliage and reddish tinged pseudostem. The sheath is smudged with blackish-brown and is without wax when mature, unlike Musa nagensium which has thick wax deposits in the pseudostem sheaths. The bases of the lamina bear a red-purple colour when young, which gradually fades, latest on the midrib. The inflorescence far outshoots the pseudostem, producing an oblique fruit bunch.[3] The fruits are described as lax, arising from large, brown callosities on axis, angled at maturity. The pulp is scanty, dirty white to pale brownish-pink. Flowering and fruiting takes place from October to April.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Musa sikkimensis (1877) Kurz, W.S. Journal of the Agricultural & Horticultural Society of India Part 1. 5 (3):164
  2. ^ a b Noltie, H.J. (1994). Musa, in Flora of Bhutan 3(1): 178-182. Edinburgh: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
  3. ^ Simmonds, N. W. (1956). Botanical Results of the Banana Collecting Expedition, 1954-5. Kew Bulletin 11 (3): 463 - 489.

External links[edit]