Musella lasiocarpa (A. R. Franchet) C. Y. Wu ex H.-W. Li

Common Name: Chinese Yellow Banana
Family: Musaceae Juss.
Synonym(s): Ensete lasiocarpum (Franch.) Cheesman

Country of Origin: China (Yunnan & Guizhou) up to 2,500 m., Vietnam & possibly Laos.

Description: Height to about 1.2 m. Pseudostem green with reddish tinges, broad at the base tapering to narrow top giving a distinctly conical appearance. Plant suckering more or less freely often producing more than one sucker at a time. Leaves held rather stiffly upright, glaucous green with reddish-brown margins. Inflorescence erect and massive somewhat resembling a lotus flower. Bracts yellow sometimes with reddish tinge. Flowers yellowish as is the somewhat hairy fruit. Seeds rounded, black-brown.

Uses: Botanists with a working knowledge of Yunnan and Musella think that it may be extinct in the wild and maintained only in cultivation by farmers in Yunnan and Sichuan. This suggests the plant has some real economic value.¹

USDA Zone: 7b-10b

Accession Data:

Accession # 200000013
Source: Mike Bordelon - SI

Provenance:

Rcvd as Musella lasiocarpa (Franch.) C.Y. Wu ex H.W. Li

Smithsonian# 1995214 
Kress# 95-5501
Collected by W.J. Kress, T. Wood & Li 
China: Yunnan: Kunming
Gao Qiao, 15km from Kunming, Yunnan, China 
24.9444, 102.4536, 14 May 1995

Accession Date: 02-02-2000
Bench: 1211 - AUS:Ground Bed 1 SW
- Currently: active - healthy
- Qty: 2 confirmed on 03-30-2023

Classification:

Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
SubClass: commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
SubOrder:
Family: Musaceae
SubFamily:
Tribe:
SubTribe:

Flowering Data:

This accession has been observed in bloom on:

Year	Jan				Feb				Mar					Apr				May				Jun					Jul				Aug				Sep					Oct				Nov				Dec
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006

References (internal):

Plants from the Kress Collection (NMNH/Smithsonian)

EEB Greenhouse Holdings native to: China South-Central / Vietnam

References (external):

The Musaceae Website. Last accessed on Tuesday, 24 September, 2019.
WCSP (2016). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Last accessed on Wednesday, September 07, 2016.
The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Last accessed on Monday, May 07, 2018.
Image #00 (cropped) & #01 (original) used with the permission of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th and Constitution Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20560-0193. Last accessed on Tuesday, 16 July, 2019.

data regenerated on Thu, 30 Mar 2023 08:36:19 -0400 [bcm v4.0]

Plant Biodiversity Conservatory and Research Core

Accession Data:

Musella lasiocarpa (A. R. Franchet) C. Y. Wu ex H.-W. Li

Accession Data:

Classification:

Flowering Data:

References (internal):

References (external):

Images:

Additional images for this accession:

Current Accessions in the Musaceae