Musa itinerans, the Yunnan banana, is a species of banana found in continental Southeast Asia from Northeast India to Vietnam.[2] The tender inner stalk is also harvested and eaten. It is the landmark 24,200th plant species saved at Kew Gardens' Millennium Seed Bank Project. With this addition, the seed bank had collected 10% of the world’s wild plant species.[3] In China it is an important food for wild Asian elephants.[3]

Musa itinerans
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Musaceae
Genus: Musa
Section: Musa sect. Musa
Species:
M. itinerans
Binomial name
Musa itinerans

Musa itinerans is found in the Assam region of Northwest India, Bangladesh, Southeast and South-central China, the Hainan province of China, Laos, Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam.[4]

Varieties

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Musa itinerans has ten accepted infraspecifics:[4]

  • M. itinerans var. annamica
  • M. itinerans var. chinensis
  • M. itinerans var. chiumei
  • M. itinerans var. formosana
  • M. itinerans var. guangdongensis
  • M. itinerans var. hainanensis
  • M. itinerans var. itinerans
  • M. itinerans var. kavalanensis
  • M. itinerans var. lechangensis
  • M. itinerans var. xishuangbannaensis

A form of the species described as Musa itinerans 'Sanmingyeshengjiao', can grow at 0°C and is thus useful for banana researchers studying cold tolerance.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Allen, R. & Plummer, J. (2020). "Musa itinerans". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T111907139A111907141. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  2. ^ Häkkinen, Markku (1 February 2008). "Musa itinerans (Musaceae) and Its Intraspecific Taxa in China". Novon: A Journal for Botanical Nomenclature. 18: 50–60. doi:10.3417/2006162. S2CID 85794853.
  3. ^ a b kew.org Archived 2009-10-17 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b "Musa itinerans Cheesman | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  5. ^ Liu, Weihua; Cheng, Chunzhen; Chen, Fanglan; Ni, Shanshan; Lin, Yuling; Lai, Zhongxiong (2018). "High-throughput sequencing of small RNAs revealed the diversified cold-responsive pathways during cold stress in the wild banana (Musa itinerans)". BMC Plant Biology. 18 (18): 308. doi:10.1186/s12870-018-1483-2. PMC 6263057. PMID 30486778.
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