''Ensete superbum'' is a species of

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

from India.

Distribution

The plant is well-known from the Western Ghats,

Anaimalai Hills The Anamala or Anaimalai, also known as the Elephant Mountains, are a range of mountains in the southern Western Ghats of central Kerala ( Idukki district, Ernakulam district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district) and span the border of wester ...

, some other

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

n hills in Dindigul and other parts of the peninsular India. It has also been recorded from Jhadol and Ogna forest ranges in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

. There are also reports of a similar species in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, but it is yet to be formally described.Constantine, D. (1999) The Musaceae — an annotated list of the species of Ensete, Musa and Musella
Website
nternet - Accessed on 11 June 2008/ref>

Description

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 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 word ''c ...

. 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.

References

External links

Biodiversity Of India wiki: ''Ensete superbum''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2367347 superbum Flora of Karnataka Flora of Kerala Flora of Rajasthan Flora of Tamil Nadu Flora of India (region) South Western Ghats montane rain forests Garden plants of Asia Medicinal plants of Asia Tropical fruit