UCONN UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Plant Biodiversity Conservatory and Research Core

  • Collections
  • Teaching
  • Research
  • Outreach
  • Visiting
  • Staff
  • IPM Info
  • Support the Greenhouse

Accession Data:

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:
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
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):

  1. The Musaceae Website. Last accessed on Tuesday, 24 September, 2019.
  2. WCSP (2016). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Last accessed on Wednesday, September 07, 2016.
  3. The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Last accessed on Monday, May 07, 2018.
  4. 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 Sat, 24 Jun 2023 15:27:37 -0400 [bcm v4.0]

Images:

Musella lasiocarpa

Additional images for this accession:

Click on thumbnails to enlarge

Current Accessions in the Musaceae

  • Ensete superbum
  • Musa laterita W/C
  • Musa acuminata 'Dwarf Cavendish'
  • Musa basjoo
  • Musa ornata
  • Musa sikkimensis
  • Musa textilis
  • Musa velutina
  • Musella lasiocarpa W/C
W/C = Wild Collected
= indicates flowering in past 14 days
= images available for this accession
= map available for this accession
= accession added within past 90 days
  • © University of Connecticut
  • Disclaimers, Privacy & Copyright