| Ensete superbum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ensete superbum at the United States Botanic Garden | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Zingiberales |
| Family: | Musaceae |
| Genus: | Ensete |
| Species: | E. superbum |
| Binomial name | |
| Ensete superbum Roxb. (1814) [1] | |
| Synonyms | |
Musa superba Roxb. | |
Ensete superbum is a species of banana from India. [2]
The plant is well-known from the Western Ghats, Anaimalai Hills, some other South Indian hills in Dindigul and other parts of the peninsular India. It has also been recorded from Jhadol and Ogna forest ranges in Rajasthan, North India. [3] There are also reports of a similar species in Thailand, but it is yet to be formally described. [4]
Plants may grow up to 3,7 m (12 f) high, the pseudostem may be up to half the height with a swollen base of up to 2,5 m (8 ft) in circumference at the base. The leaves are bright green in on both sides with a deeply grooved and short petiole. The leaf sheaths are persistent at the base and leave closely set scars on the corm. The fruits are slightly less than 8 cm (3 inches) long and more or less triangular with dark brown seeds. The upper parts of the plant die out during the dry season leaving the corm, which forms new leaves at the beginning of the monsoon. [4]
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Musa. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguishing them from dessert bananas. The fruit is variable in size, color, and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind, which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. The fruits grow upward in clusters near the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless (parthenocarp) bananas come from two wild species – Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. The scientific names of most cultivated bananas are Musa acuminata, Musa balbisiana, and Musa × paradisiaca for the hybrid Musa acuminata × M. balbisiana, depending on their genomic constitution. The old scientific name for this hybrid, Musa sapientum, is no longer used.
Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in food. Although some doubts remain on its origin, it is believed that saffron originated in Iran. However, Greece and Mesopotamia have also been suggested as the possible region of origin of this plant. The saffron crocus slowly propagated throughout much of Eurasia and was later brought to parts of North Africa, North America, and Oceania.
Musaceae is a family of flowering plants composed of three genera with about 91 known species, placed in the order Zingiberales. The family is native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. The plants have a large herbaceous growth habit with leaves with overlapping basal sheaths that form a pseudostem making some members appear to be woody trees. In most treatments, the family has three genera, Musa, Musella and Ensete. Cultivated bananas are commercially important members of the family, and many others are grown as ornamental plants.
Ensete is a genus of monocarpic flowering plants native to tropical regions of Africa and Asia. It is one of the three genera in the banana family, Musaceae, and includes the false banana or enset, an economically important food crop in Ethiopia.
Fennel is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized in many parts of the world, especially on dry soils near the sea coast and on riverbanks.
Corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation).
The water caltrop is any of three extant species of the genus Trapa: Trapa natans, Trapa bicornis and the endangered Trapa rossica. It is also known as buffalo nut, bat nut, devil pod, ling nut, mustache nut, singhara nut or water chestnut.
Leucanthemum is a genus of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae. It is mainly distributed in southern and central Europe. Some species are known on other continents as introduced species, and some are cultivated as ornamental plants. The name Leucanthemum derives from the Greek words λευκός – leukos ("white") and ἄνθεμον – anthemon ("flower"). Common names for Leucanthemum species usually include the name daisy, but "daisy" can also refer to numerous other genera in the Asteraceae family.
Taro is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in African, Oceanic, East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian cultures. Taro is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants.
Ocimum tenuiflorum, commonly known as holy basil or tulsi, is an aromatic perennial plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Australia, Malesia, Asia, and the western Pacific. It is widely cultivated throughout the Southeast Asian tropics. This plant has escaped from cultivation and has naturalized in many tropical regions of the Americas. It is an agricultural and environmental weed.
Eddoe or eddo is a tropical vegetable often considered identifiable as the species Colocasia antiquorum, closely related to taro, which is primarily used for its thickened stems (corms). In most cultivars there is an acrid taste that requires careful cooking. The young leaves can also be cooked and eaten, but they have a somewhat acrid taste.
Musa is one of three genera in the family Musaceae. The genus includes 83 species of flowering plants producing edible bananas and plantains. Though they grow as high as trees, banana and plantain plants are not woody and their apparent "stem" is made up of the bases of the huge leaf stalks. Thus, they are technically gigantic herbaceous plants. Musa species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the giant leopard moth and other Hypercompe species, including H. albescens, H. eridanus, and H. icasia.
Amorphophallus paeoniifolius, the elephant foot yam or whitespot giant arum, is a tropical plant native to Island Southeast Asia. It is cultivated for its edible tubers in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Madagascar, New Guinea, and the Pacific islands. Because of its production potential and popularity as a vegetable in various cuisines, it can be raised as a cash crop.
Ziziphus nummularia, commonly known as wild jujube or jhahrberi in Hindi, is a species of Ziziphus native to the Thar Desert of western India and southeastern Pakistan, south Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Zimbabwe. Ziziphus nummularia is a shrub up to 6 metres (20 ft) or higher, branching to form a thicket. The leaves are rounded like those of Ziziphus jujuba but differ from those in having a pubescence on the adaxial surface. The plant is commonly found in arid areas, hills, plains, and agricultural fields.
Carissa carandas is a species of flowering shrub in the family Apocynaceae. It produces berry-sized fruits that are commonly used as a condiment in Indian pickles and spices. It is a hardy, drought-tolerant plant that thrives well in a wide range of soils. Common names in English include Bengal currant, Christ's thorn, Carandas plum, Karonda, Karanda and Kanna.
Alocasia odora is a flowering plant native to East and Southeast Asia. In Manipur, India, its local name is hoomu. Traditionally, A. odora is sometime used as a medicine for the treatment of the common cold in North Vietnam.
Ensete ventricosum, commonly known as enset or ensete, Ethiopian banana, Abyssinian banana, pseudo-banana, false banana and wild banana, is an herbaceous species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae. The domesticated form of the plant is cultivated only in Ethiopia, where it provides the staple food for approximately 20 million people. The name Ensete ventricosum was first published in the Kew Bulletin 1947, p. 101. Its synonyms include Musa arnoldiana De Wild., Musa ventricosa Welw. and Musa ensete J. F. Gmelin. In its wild form, it is native to the eastern edge of the Great African Plateau, extending northwards from South Africa through Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to Ethiopia, and west to the Congo, being found in high-rainfall forests on mountains, and along forested ravines and streams.
Trimezia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to the warmer parts of southern Mexico, Central America, South America, Florida, and the West Indies. Trimezia is placed in the tribe Trimezieae. The division of the tribe into genera has varied considerably. In one approach, it contains only the genus Trimezia, which then includes the genera Neomarica, Pseudotrimezia and Pseudiris. In other approaches, two to five genera are recognized, sometimes also including the genus Deluciris.
In plant morphology, a cataphyll is a reduced, small leaf. Many plants have both "true leaves" (euphylls), which perform most of the photosynthesis, and cataphylls, which are modified to perform other functions.
Ensete glaucum, the snow banana, has also been classified as Musa nepalensis, Ensete giganteum, or Ensete wilsonii.
