Ensete

The genus Ensete was first described by Paul (Paulo or Paulus) Fedorowitsch Horaninow (or Horaninov) (1796 - 1865) in his Prodromus Monographiae Scitaminarum of 1862 in which he created a single species, Ensete edule. However, the genus did not receive general recognition until 1947 when it was revived by E. E. Cheesman in the first of a series of papers in the Kew Bulletin on the classification of the bananas.

Taxonomically, the genus Ensete has shrunk since Cheesman revived the genus with 25 species. Cheesman acknowledged that field study might reveal synonymy and the most recent review of the genus by Simmonds (1960) listed just 6. Recently the number has increased to 7 as the Flora of China has, not entirely convincingly, re-instated Ensete wilsonii. There is one species in Thailand, somewhat resembling E. superbum that has not been formally described and possibly other Asian species.

It is possible simply to separate Ensete into its African and Asian species.

Africa

E. gilletii

E. homblei

E. perrieri - endemic to Madagascar but intriguingly like the Asian E. glaucum

E. ventricosum

Asia

E. glaucum - widespread in Asia from India to Papua New Guinea

E. superbum - Western Ghats of India

E. wilsonii - Yunnan, China, but doubtfully distinct from E. glaucum

E. sp. "Thailand" - possibly a new species or a disjunct population of E. superbum

External links and references

• David Constantine http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~drc/genusensete.htm