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Madagascar banana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Zingiberales
Family:	Musaceae
Genus:	Ensete
Species:	E. perrieri
Binomial name
Ensete perrieri

The Madagascar banana is a species of banana exclusively found in western Madagascar. The Madagascar banana is critically endangered because of deforestation and climate change. However some botanists believe that only the Madagascar banana can save the Cavendish banana from Panama disease, which earlier wiped out the Gros Michel banana as a commercial crop.

Description

The Madagascar banana is yellow when ripe, and green when not, just like the Cavendish banana but much thicker, with large seeds inside the flesh. A typical Madagascar banana tree can grow up to 10 meters (32 ft) high and has a bluish-waxy pseudostem with straight yellow leaves.

Uses

Because of the large seeds, it is not palatable to eat - however it may be possible to breed edible bananas with it.

Taxonomy

A specimen was collected in 1905 and decribed by French botanist Claverie, and originally classified in the genus Musa but was reclassified as Ensete by Ernest Entwistle Cheesman. The Madagascar banana is a wild relative of the Abyssinian Banana (Ensete ventricosum). It is closely related to the Cavendish banana, that is they are triploid, belonging to the AAA group of banana cultivars.

Habitat and cultivation

They live in dry tropical forest in western Madagascar: in 2018 it was thought by botanists at Kew Gardens that there were only five mature individuals left, but seedlings had been seen. So it is on the IUCN Redlist as critically endangered. The Madagascar banana has a genetic trait that allows them to be resistant to diseases. The Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve has them.

See also

• Red banana
• Blue Java banana
• Flora of Madagascar

References

1. ^ "Yes! We have no bananas: Why the song may come true again". BBC. Helen Briggs. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
2. ^ "The critically endangered Madagascar Banana". Kew. Richard Allen , Dr James J Clarkson and Dr Hélène Ralimanana. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
3. "Photos of Madagascar Banana". inaturalist. Unknown. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
4. "Ensete perrieri". rarepalmseeds.com. Unknown. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
5. "Occurrence Detail 4061008915". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
6. Benjamin, Emerson (2018-09-06). Biotechnology for Fruit Crop Improvement. Scientific e-Resources. p. 305. ISBN 978-1-83947-181-0.
7. Cheesman, E. E. (1947). "Classification of the Bananas: The Genus Ensete Horan". Kew Bulletin. 2 (2): 97–106. doi:10.2307/4109206. ISSN 0075-5974.
8. Kew), Richard Allen (RBG (2017-06-23). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Ensete perrieri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Archived from the original on 2024-12-15.

External links

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