Musa maclayi

Musa maclayi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Zingiberales
Family:	Musaceae
Genus:	Musa
Species:	M. maclayi
Binomial name
Musa maclayi F.Muell. ex Mikl.-Maclay[1]

Musa maclayi is a species of seeded banana native to Papua New Guinea and possibly the Solomon Islands.^[2] It is placed in section Callimusa (now including the former section Australimusa).^[3] It is regarded as one of the progenitors of the Fe'i banana cultivars.^[4]

The plant has red sap and an upright flowering and fruiting stem.^[5] The fruits are rounded and arranged closely together in bunches – partly joined along their edges in some varieties.^[4]

The species was named after the explorer and naturalist Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay, who first described it:

"Besides the cultivated varieties, which have been obtained by exchange between the villages, there is to be found in the forest a wild Banana (Musa Maclayi F. v. M.), compared to the cultivated varieties, with a tall stem (nearly twice as tall), with narrow stiff leaves and small (not edible) fruits full of seeds."

— N. Miklouho-Maclay^[6]

Subspecies

Two subspecies^[5][7] and two varieties^[7] are known:

• Musa maclayi subsp. ailuluai Argent
• Musa maclayi subsp. maclayi (autonym)
• Musa maclayi var. erecta (Simmonds) Argent
• Musa maclayi var. namatani Argent

Notes and references

1. "Musa maclayi". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
2. Musa maclayi F. Muell. ex Mikl.-Maclay on the GRIN web site.
3. Wong, C.; Kiew, R.; Argent, G.; Set, O.; Lee, S.K. & Gan, Y.Y. (2002). "Assessment of the Validity of the Sections in Musa (Musaceae) using ALFP". Annals of Botany 90 (2): 231–238. doi:10.1093/aob/mcf170.
4. Ploetz, R.C.; Kepler, A.K.; Daniells, J. & Nelson, S.C. (2007). "Banana and Plantain: An Overview with Emphasis on Pacific Island Cultivars". In Elevitch, C.R. Species Profiles for Pacific Island Agroforestry (PDF). Hōlualoa, Hawai'i: Permanent Agriculture Resources (PAR). Retrieved 2013-01-10.
5. Sharrock, S. (2001). "Diversity in the genus Musa: focus on Australimusa". In INIBAP. Networking Banana and Plantain: INIBAP Annual Report 2000. Montpellier, France: International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain. pp. 14–19. External link in |title= (help);
6. "List of plants in use by the natives of the Maclay-Coast, New Guinea", in The Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales Vol. X 1885, p. 348
7. "Musa maclayi". Altlas of Living Australia. Retrieved January 24, 2013.