Ensete

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Ensete
Rock banana (Ensete superbum)

Rock banana ( Ensete superbum )

Systematics
Class : Bedecktsamer (Magnoliopsida)
Monocots
Commelinids
Order : Gingery (Zingiberales)
Family : Banana family (Musaceae)
Genre : Ensete
Scientific name
Ensete
Bruce

The genus Ensete from the banana family (Musaceae) is common with around ten species in Africa and Asia. Because of its importance for fiber production, the species Ensete ventricosum , the ornamental banana, is also called Abyssinian fiber banana. The Ensete plants do not produce any edible fruit.

description

The Ensete species are herbaceous , hapaxanthic plants . They form a pseudo trunk from the closely spaced leaf bases, the pseudo trunk is often significantly thickened at its base. The leaf continues on a petiole to form the elongated leaf blade.

The inflorescence consists of many green, mostly long-lasting bracts . They are initially close together in a rosette-like manner, during the flowering period the inflorescence stretches and hangs over. At the base of the inflorescence there are female or hermaphrodite flowers , further in front purely male. The individual flower consists of two tepals : one is made up of five petals grown together, very narrow and often three-toothed at the tip, the other petal is usually wider. The fruit is a leathery, quite dry berry .

distribution

Most of the Ensete species are found in Africa, some also in Asia. The main distribution area of Ensete ventricosum is the highlands of southern Ethiopia .

use

Especially Ensete ventricosum is used in a variety of ways in Ethiopia. The ensete cultivation is especially typical for the following ethnic groups: Gurage , Hadiyya , Silt'e , Sidaama , Wolaytta , Kambaata , Aari and Käfa . Almost every component of the plant is used. The starch obtained from the dummy trunk and its thickened base is used for nutrition. Pseudo-stem and veins provide fibers for the production of ropes, mats, sacks.

Some types of Ensete are also of interest to growers of dessert bananas , as the dessert banana varieties grown around the world ( Cavendish , Gros Michel, etc.) are threatened by fungal diseases. It is hoped that the wild-growing banana plants will find possible resistance genes to these fungal diseases and then cross or introduce them into the commercially used banana varieties.

Ornamental banana ( Ensete ventricosum )

Systematics

There are around ten species worldwide that can be classified according to their origin:

Africa
  • Ensete gilletii (De Wild.) Cheesman (is also seen as a synonym of E. livingstonianum (J. Kirk) Cheesman )
  • Ensete homblei (Bequaert ex De Wild.) Cheesman : It occurs from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to northern Zambia .
  • Ensete livingstonianum (J.Kirk) Cheesman : It occurs from tropical West Africa to Malawi .
  • Ensete perrieri (Claverier) Cheesman -endemicto Madagascar , but closely resembles Ensete glaucum (Roxb.) Cheesman
  • Ornamental banana or Abyssinian banana ( Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman ): It occurs from Ethiopia to northern South Africa.
Asia
  • Snow banana or elephant banana ( Ensete glaucum (Roxb.) Cheesman) : It occurs in two varieties from Nepal to New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago.
  • Ensete lecongkietii Luu, NLVu & QDNguyen : The species first described in 2012 occurs in Vietnam.
  • Rock banana ( Ensete superbum (Roxb.) Cheesman) : It occurs in western India.
  • Ensete wilsonii (Tutcher) Cheesman - Yunnan , China. It is also referred to as Ensete glaucum var. Wilsonii (Tutcher) Häkkinen varietyas Ensete glaucum .

literature

  • Alke Dohrmann and Manfred Metz: Ensät. In: Encyclopaedia Aethiopica . Vol. 2: D-Ha. 2004, pp. 316-318.
  • Alke Dohrmann: The Hadiyya Ensete Gardens in South Ethiopia. Cultural significance of a food plant. Lit-Verlag, Münster 2004
  • Delin Wu, W. John Kress: Ensete . In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven (Ed.): Flora of China . tape 24 . Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, S. 314 ( eFloras.org - 1994+).

Web links

Commons : Ensete  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Helen Briggs: Yes! We have no bananas: Why the song may come true again. BBC News, July 6, 2018, accessed July 6, 2018 .
  2. a b c d e f g h Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Ensete. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved August 11, 2018.