Musaceae
Ensete

Ensete livingstonianum (J.Kirk) Cheesman

First published in Kew Bull. 2: 101 (1947 publ. 1948)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is W. Tropical Africa to Malawi. It is a herbaceous tree and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/44392854/44482983

Conservation
LC - least concern
[IUCN]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Seed Collecting Guide. RBG Kew (2013-2016)

Morphology General Habit
Perrenial monocarpic herb 1.5 -3 m high. young stems dying back to a hard round corm c. 30 cm in diameter at soil surface during the dry season
Morphology Leaves
midrib prominent below; lateral nerves numerous, forming an angle of 50 - 70 degrees with midrib at flowering, leaf-blades spreading, spaced on pseudostem, the loWest up to 150 cm long, elliptic to narrowly elliptic, apex acute to acuminate, base cuneate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
lnfloresence bracts 4.5 - 9 x 17-25 cm, very broadly ovate, male ones mauve lnfloresence terminal on leafy shoot
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
female flower as male but ovary much larger and stamens rudimentary. fruit c. 5 x 2 cm, narrowly ellipsoid, obtuse, splitting at maturity to reveal seeds embedded in an orange pulp male flowers calyx spathaceous, splitting down one side, remaining lobe ligulate, 3 lobed at apex; dorsal petal 3-lobed, with broad rounded lateral lobes and a central apiculus, stamens 6, 12 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
seeds 7-9 mm diameter, black, hard.
Ecology
relatively dry s, dying down to a perennating corm in unfavourably dry seasons. altitudeunknown
Distribution
found throughout central Africa.
Conservation
least concerned
Phenology
Flower (february - june), fruit (no data)
[SCG]

Musaceae, F. N. Hepper. Flora of West Tropical Africa 3:1. 1968

Morphology General Habit
A wild banana of hilly grassland savanna.
Morphology Stem
The leafy young stem dies back to a hard round corm about 1 ft. across remaining on the soil surface
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits Infructescences
Fertile stem nodding, bearing a mass of small fruits about 2 in. long with yellow or orange pulp and large dark brown seeds which are later exposed by longitudinal splitting of the fruit
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Male bracts mauve.
sex Male
Male bracts mauve.
[FWTA]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of West Tropical Africa

    • Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Seed Collection Guides

    • Seed Collection Guides
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0