The first scientific term given to
banana is Musa paradisiaca Linn., published
in 1753 by Linnaeus in his book Species Plantarum.
Later, Linneaus published Musa sapientum Linn. in Systema Naturae in 1759 to describe a
dessert banana which bear sweet fruits that are eaten fresh upon ripening.
To cope with the wealth in germplasm
diversity in its center of origin, subsequent banana taxonomists applied such
descriptive names as Musa nana Lour.
for the Dwarf Cavendish, Musa rubra Firming. von Wall. for the
Red banana, Musa corniculata Lour.
for the horn plantain, and many others.
Cheesman (1948) recognized three groups of morphologically distinct cultivars. The first group shows predominantly the botanical characters of Musa acuminate while the second group of cultivars primarily exhibit the morphological features of Musa balbisiana. The third group possesses characteristics that combine the morphological characters of the two wild species and are considered as their natural hybrids.
Simmonds and Shepherd (1955) concluded that the edible bananas originated from two wild and seedy species, Musa acuminate Colla and Musa balbisiana Colla which are endemic to Southeast Asia.
Simmonds and Shepherd (1955) concluded that the edible bananas originated from two wild and seedy species, Musa acuminate Colla and Musa balbisiana Colla which are endemic to Southeast Asia.
According to rules of the International
Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP), hybrids can also be given a
scientific name. However, the epithet must carry the prefix ‘x’ to indicate the
hybrid nature of the species. In the case of hybrid banana cultivars, Musa x paradisiaca Linn. should be
adopted as this binomial was
published ahead of Musa sapientum.
To cope with the problem, the authors
agreed to adopt the three tiers system namely – species, genome group, and
cultivar, in classifying bananas and identifying cultivar names and synonyms of
the region.
The taxonomic scorecard suggested by
Silayoi and Chomchalow (1987), was found
very useful in segregating the numerous banana varieties into six genome
groups.
This scoring technique provides for a
range of 15 (15 x 1) for wild acuminata
and 75 (15 x 5) for wild balbisiana
species. Intermediate expressions of the characters are assigned scores ranging
from 2, 3, or 4 depending on intensity. The hybrid cultivars, therefore, should
have total scores between 15 and 75. In actual practice, slight deviations are
allowed.
Table 2 shows the six genome groups
and the expected range of scores the cultivars under study will generate. Pure acuminata varieties should have scores
between 15 to 25 while pure balbisiana
cultivars should range between 70 to 75. The hybrids are expected to score
between 26 to 69 points.
Table 3 presents the list of banana cultivar names and synonyms of Southeast Asia.
Table 4 presents the list of cultivars unique to each country of the region.
Table 3 presents the list of banana cultivar names and synonyms of Southeast Asia.
Table 4 presents the list of cultivars unique to each country of the region.
Banana Cultivar Names & Synonyms
in Southeast Asia, Valmayor et. al., INIBAP
