全 文 ：Journal of Systematics and Evolution 46 (1): 89–92 (2008) doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1002.2008.07056
(formerly Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica) http://www.plantsystematics.com
A taxonomic revision of Musa aurantiaca (Musaceae) in Southeast Asia
1,2Markku HÄKKINEN* 3Henry VÄRE
1(Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China)
2(Botanic Garden, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 44 (Jyrängöntie 2), FI-00014, Finland)
3(Finnish Museum of Natural History, Botanical Museum, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 7 (Unioninkatu 44), FI-00014, Finland)
Abstract Since the initial description, the name Musa aurantiaca Baker (1893) has been unclear to most
botanists. The aim of this study is to settle its true identity and to update the description. The plant is distributed in
the regions of Upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, India, Northern Myanmar and Tibet, China where it occurs
commonly but it is not mentioned in Chinese literature at all. In this paper, the authors also review the description
and the literature history of M. aurantiaca from 1893 to the present. Musa aurantiaca Baker is typified here.
Key words Musa, Musa aurantiaca, Musaceae, Southeast Asia, wild banana.
Musa aurantiaca was described by John Gilbert
Baker based on a specimen collected by a German
botanist Gustav Mann in 1889 at Assam (Baker,
1893). The description was based on a Wendland’s
herbarium (Herrenhausen Botanic Garden, Hanover,
Germany) sample, today at Kew, which is typified
here as a lectotype. Although Baker gives Mann as the
author, the description was done by Baker alone. He
placed the new species in the section Rhodochlamys.
Musa aurantiaca Baker in Ann. Bot. 7: 222. 1893.
Type: India. Assam: Mahuni Forest; Lakhinpur, IX.
1890, Gustav Mann (lectotype designated here, K
000308203!) (Fig. 1).
The diagnosis was: “M. aurantiaca, Mann, Herb.
Habit of M. sanguinea, but forming larger clumps of
rather shorter stems. Panicle moderately dense, finally
8–9 in. (20–23 cm) long; rachis glabrous; bracts bright
orange-yellow, glabrous; lowest sterile, lanceolate, a
foot long; upper oblong-lanceolate, persistent, 3–4 in.
(7.5–10 cm) long; female flowers in 5 clusters of 4–5
each. Calyx yellow, above an inch long, 5-toothed at
the tip; petal linear, obtuse, as long as the calyx. Fruit
green, glabrous. Forests of Upper Assam, Mann!
Differs mainly from M. sanguinea by its orange-
coloured bracts”.
A living M. aurantiaca was introduced during
the following year to Kew Garden London, United
Kingdom through Herrenhausen, by German botanist
Hermann Wendland who had been trained earlier at
Kew. The species was introduced to Herrenhausen
Botanic Garden Hanover, Germany from Assam, India
by Gustav Mann (Baker, 1894). He was also trained at
Kew and later worked at the Indian Forest Service,
India. He collected several Musa L. specimens and
sent them to Herrenhausen and Kew. Musa aurantiaca
was also introduced to horticulture in the United
Kingdom in 1894 but it fell into oblivion at the
beginning of the 20th century.
The first diagnosis was somewhat imperfect
according to Baker (1894) himself, and he
supplemented it based on the living specimen at Kew
from Herrenhausen as: “MUSA AURANTIACA, G.
Mann; Baker, in Ann. Bot. vii, 222.* This fine new
Musa was described somewhat imperfectly from the
dried specimens and notes furnished by its discoverer,
Mr. Gustav Mann, in my monograph of the Museae
published last year in the Annals of Botany. Now I
have been furnished by Herr Wendland with a
complete living plant that has been flowered in the
garden under his charge at Herrenhausen, in Hanover.
It will be a valuable acquisition, to horticulture, not
for the sake of its fruit, but on account of its brilliant
orange bracts and flowers. It belongs to the third
section of the genus, Rhodochlamys, which is
distinguished by having few flowers in a cluster, non-
edible fruits, and bright-coloured bracts. It is closely
allied to M. coccinea and M. sanguinea, but the bracts
and flowers are bright yellow instead of red. It is a
native of the forests of Upper Assam. Caudex
elongated, cylindrical, above one inch in diameter.
Leaves oblong, bright green, thin and easily splitting
and curling up, 2.5 to 3 feet (80–96 cm) long , under 1
foot broad, broadly rounded at the base; petiole above
1 foot long, deeply channelled. Peduncle short, stout,
glabrous. Spike dense, under 1 foot long in the
flowering stage; flowers usually three in a cluster,
sessile; clusters of fruits three to four; bracts bright
orange, the lowest lanceolate, 1 foot long, the
uppermost ovate, 2 to 3 inches (5–7.5 cm) long; several
———————————
Received: 28 March 2007 Accepted: 24 May 2007
* Author for correspondence. E-mail: .
Journal of Systematics and Evolution Vol. 46 No. 1 2008 90
of the upper not expanding. Calyx 1.25 to 1.5 inches
(3–3.8 cm) long, bright yellow, spathaceous, 5-
toothed at the tip. Petals lingulate, obtuse, as long as
the calyx. Stamens rather longer than the calyx.
Immature fruits oblong-trigonous, green, glabrous. J.
G. Baker”.
“*Musa aurantiaca, G. Mann.—Caudice elongate
cylindrico; foliis longe petiolatis oblongis viridibus
basi rotundatis; pedunculo brevi crasso glabro;
floribus sessilibus saepissime 3-nis. in spicam densam
aggregatis; bracteis splendide aurantiacis infimis
lanceolatis, superioribus brevibus ovatis; calyce
aurantiaco apice 5-dentato; petala lingulata calyce
aequilonga, fructu angulato glabro”.
After Baker’s descriptions, M. aurantiaca was
mentioned in the literature mainly by quoting parts of
Baker’s first description in 1893 or by name only
(Anonymous, 1894; Schumann, 1900; de Wildeman,
1912; Fawcett, 1913; Cheesman, 1947; Simmonds,
1960, 1962; Champion, 1967).
The Kew Curator William Watson (1894) wrote
in Garden and Forest, New York: “MUSA
AURANTIACA—This is a handsome-flowered dwarf
Musa, which was discovered in Assam by Mr. Gustav
Mann, who sent it to Mr. Wendland, of the
Herrenhausen Botanic Garden, some years ago, where
it flowered lately, and the inflorescence has been
forwarded to Kew. It is like the old M. coccinea in
habit and stature, the stems being only two or three
feet long, the leaves three feet long, and the terminal,
erect, stout scape nearly a foot long. The charm of the
plant is in the rich orange color of the large bracts
which clothe the upper part of the scape and partly
enclose the yellow flowers, which occur usually in
threes. There are examples of this species in the Palm-
house at Kew, where it forms crowded clusters of
stems in pots about fifteen inches (38 cm) in diameter.
It is a worthy companion to M. coccinea and M.
mannii, and these three Musas deserve to be in every
good collection of stove-plants”.
Some descriptions of M. aurantiaca and the
Musa section Rhodochlamys have been given based
on literature, herbaria samples and field studies from
Upper Assam, India, the state bordering Tibet, China
(Sagot, 1887; Baker, 1893; Cheesman, 1947;
Häkkinen & Sharrock, 2002; Häkkinen, 2005; Uma et
al, 2006; Häkkinen, 2007). However, several studies
of Musaceae in China have been carried out but none
mentions M. aurantiaca even though it is rather
common in southern Tibet bordering India where it is
native to (e.g. Li, 1981; Wu & Kress, 2000; Liu et al.,
2002).
Here is an updated description of M. aurantiaca,
including observations of cultivated living plants in
the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden,
introduced from Mêdog County, Xizang (Tibet),
China, by completing the entire INIBAP Musa
Descriptor List (IPGRI-INIBAP/CIRAD, 1996). The
descriptive terms here also follow the tradition of
banana taxonomy as used by Simmonds (1962, 1966).
Relevant parts of the specimen were deposited at the
Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden herbarium
(HITBC) with running herbarium numbers: 111530
(Fig. 2), 111629, 111630 and 111631.
Musa aurantiaca
The re-description is based on XTBG’s living
specimen 00, 2003, 1766 introduced from Mêdog
County, Xizang (Tibet), China. (Figs. 3, 4) Plant
slender, suckering freely, close to parent plant, up to
12 suckers (in natural habitat 25–30 suckers), position
vertical. Mature pseudostem up to 1.1 m high and 5
cm in diameter at base, in appearance varying with
amounts of dead brown sheaths, underlying colour
light green with large brown blotches, shiny, sap
watery. Petiole up to 25 cm long, petiole canal
margins straight with erect margins, petiole bases
winged and not clasping the pseudostem with sparse
brown blotches. Leaf habit intermediate, lamina up to
80 cm long and 27 cm wide, narrowly elliptic,
truncate at the apex, colour of upper surface green and
lower surface medium green, appearance dull, little
wax on surface, leaf bases asymmetric, both sides
rounded, midrib dorsally medium green and ventrally
light green, with corrugated lamina. Inflorescence
erect, peduncle up to 15 cm long and 2.5 cm in
diameter, hairless and light green to red in colour,
sterile bract one, bracts persistent at the opening of the
first female flowers. Basal flowers female in 5 clusters
of 4–5 each, ovary light green, arrangements of ovules
in two rows per loculus. Male bud, ovate, 11 cm long
and 4 cm wide, bracts orange red in external side,
orange yellow internal side, with few waxes outside,
no imbrications, lifting 1–2 bracts at a time, revolute
before falling. Male flowers on average 5 per bract in
1 row, falling with the bract, compound tepal 4 cm
long, orange in colour with two thickened keels,
ribbed at the dorsal angles, with 5-toothed orange
apex, the central lobes smaller than the outer lobes,
free tepal 4.3 cm long, orange tinted with yellow,
rectangular, simple folding under apex, with accordion
like obtuse apex, stamens 5, filaments rusty brown,
anthers cream, anthers and style at the same level,
stigma orange, ovary straight, orange, without
pigmentation. Fruit bunch lax, with 5 hands and 4–5
HÄKKINEN & VÄRE: A taxonomic revision of Musa aurantiaca in Southeast Asia

91
fruits per hand on average, in 1 row, fingers curved
towards to the stalk, individual fruit 4.5 cm long,
straight, angular, pedicel 6 mm long and hairless, fruit
apex rounded and with floral relicts, immature fruit
peel colour light green, becoming yellow at maturity,
immature fruit pulp white, becoming cream and soft at
maturity. Seeds rounded, about 2 mm in diameter, 50–
55 seeds per fruit. Chromosome numbers are 2n=22
(Cheesman, 1947).













































Figs. 1–4. 1. Lectotype specimen of Musa aurantiaca (K000308203). Courtesy of Martin Xanthos, Kew. 2. Specimen of Musa aurantiaca (HITBC
111530). Courtesy of XTBG. 3. Living specimen of Musa aurantiaca at XTBG. Photo: M. Häkkinen. 4. Living specimen of Musa aurantiaca at
XTBG. Courtesy of XTBG.
Journal of Systematics and Evolution Vol. 46 No. 1 2008 92
Key to some closely related species of Musa sect. Rhodochlamys
1a. Basal flowers female, 4–5 per bract, peduncle light green to red, male bracts orange in external side, orange yellow internal, fruits
4.5 cm long, straight, angular, becoming yellow at maturity…...….….……….….……..….……..….……..…… Musa aurantiaca
1b. Basal flowers hermaphrodite, 3 per bract, peduncle bright red, male bracts blood-red in external and internal side, fruits 4.5 cm
long, straight, angular, becoming pale yellow-green and variegated with red at maturity….….….……..….……..………………. 2
2a. Up to 12 pseudostems in the same plant, inflorescence erect, free tepal as long as compound tepal….………………M. sanguinea
2b. Up to 3 pseudostems in the same plant, inflorescence first erect then horizontal, free tepal 3/4 long as compound tepal…….…... 3
3a. Plant small, slender, 70 cm high, with 2–3 suckers, leaves 60 cm long and 15 cm wide, dark green, underneath midrib red, bracts
rose…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….... M. mannii
3b. Plant 180 cm high, with up to 12 clumping suckers, leaves 200 cm long and 35 cm wide, inflorescence erect, bracts pink………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...….….…M. ornata

Additional specimens examined:
India. Assam: 13. I. 1894. From H. Wendland, Assam
23.VIII. 1909. I. H. Burkill 32654. Ex HERB. R.E.P. (CAL);
District of Lakhinpur by the Sidi stream, alt. 1600 ft. 1. II.
1912. I. H. Burkill 365-82. ex HERB. R. E. P. (K); District of
Changlang: between Deban (27° 29′ N, 96° 23′ E) and Haldi
Barie (27° 31′ N, 96° 24′ E), 16. I. 1994. NRFP 27 (E).
Distribution and habitat Musa aurantiaca has
a wide distribution in an area bounded in the
Northwest by Tibet’s southern slope of the Himalayas,
by Northern Arunachal Pradesh in the Northeast,
extending as far South as Northern Assam, and East to
Putao in Northern Myanmar, where it was reported
recently in 2006. It grows mostly in higher altitudes at
elevations between 300 and 1200 m in moist ravines
of evergreen forests and along riversides.
This highly ornamental, forgotten Musa species
is totally unknown in Western horticulture markets
and it should be re-introduced there, especially since
its low cold sensitivity makes it suitable for
horticulture as an ornamental plant in temperate
regions.
Acknowledgements This study was done in
collaboration with the Xishuangbanna Tropical
Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The
authors greatly appreciate the help and support from
the staff of the mentioned institution. We also would
like to thank the herbarium staff of Kew, Mrs. Sirkka
Sällinen, the librarian at Finnish Museum of Natural
History, Helsinki who made a great effort in searching
articles for us, and last but not least Emory Walton
from California Rare Fruit Growers for proof reading
this article.
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