View source for Ensete

{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Ensete''
| image = Esente superbum.jpg
| image_width = 230px
| image_caption = Esente superbum at the [[United States Botanic Garden]]
| regnum = [[Plantae]]
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Liliopsida]]
| subclassis = [[Zingiberidae]]
| ordo = [[Zingiberales]]
| familia = [[Musaceae]]
| genus = '''''Ensete'''''
| genus_authority = [[James Bruce|Bruce]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = 
See text.
}}

'''''Ensete''''' (Enset) is one of three [[genus|genera]] of [[plant]]s in the [[banana]] family, [[Musaceae]], native to tropical regions of [[Africa]] and [[Asia]]. 

== Domesticated enset in Ethiopia == 
''"Enset provides more amount of foodstuff per unit area than most cereals. It is estimated that 40 to 60 enset plants occupying 250-375 sq. meters can provide enough food for a family of 5 to 6 people."'' – Country Information Brief, [[FAO]] June 1995

Enset (''E. ventricosum'') is commonly known as "false banana" for its close resemblance to the domesticated banana plant. It is [[Ethiopia]]'s most important [[root crop]], a traditional staple crop in the densely populated south and southwestern parts of Ethiopia. The root is the main edible portion as its fruit is not edible. Each plant takes four to five years to mature, at which time a single root will give 40 kg of food. Due to the long period of time from [[planting]] to [[harvest]], plantings need to be staggered over time, to ensure that there is enset available for harvest in every season. Enset will tolerate [[drought]] better than most [[cereal crop]]s.
 
Wild enset plants are produced from [[seed]]s, while most domesticated plants are propagated from [[basal_shoot|suckers]]. Up to 400 suckers can be produced from just one mother plant. In 1994 3,000 km² of enset were grown in Ethiopia, with a harvest estimated to be almost 10 tonnes per ha. Enset is often intercropped with [[sorghum]].


== Taxonomy ==
The genus ''Ensete'' was first described by [[Paul Fedorowitsch Horaninow]] (1796-1865) in his ''[[Prodromus Monographiae Scitaminarum]]'' of 1862 in which he created a single species, ''Ensete edule''. However, the genus did not receive general recognition until 1947 when it was revived by [[E. E. Cheesman]] in the first of a series of papers in the ''[[Kew Bulletin]]'' on the classification of the bananas, with a total of 25 species.

Taxonomically, the genus ''Ensete'' has shrunk since Cheesman revived the genus. Cheesman acknowledged that field study might reveal synonymy and the most recent review of the genus by Simmonds (1960) listed just six. Recently the number has increased to seven as the Flora of [[China]] has, not entirely convincingly, reinstated ''Ensete wilsonii''. There is one species in [[Thailand]], somewhat resembling ''E. superbum'', that has not been formally described, and possibly other Asian species. 

It is possible to separate ''Ensete'' into its African and Asian species.

;Africa
:''[[Ensete gilletii]]''
:''[[Ensete homblei]]''
:''[[Ensete perrieri]]'' - endemic to [[Madagascar]] but intriguingly like the Asian ''E. glaucum''
:''[[Ensete ventricosum]]'' - Enset or "false banana", sometimes used in [[Cuisine of Ethiopia|Ethiopian cuisine]] (particularly [[Gurage]] cuisine).

;Asia
:''[[Ensete glaucum]]'' - widespread in Asia from India to Papua New Guinea
:''[[Ensete superbum]]'' - Western Ghats of India
:''[[Ensete wilsonii]]'' - [[Yunnan]], China, but doubtfully distinct from ''E. glaucum''
:''Ensete'' sp. "Thailand" - possibly a new species or a disjunct population of ''E. superbum''

== See also ==
*[[List of Southern African indigenous trees]]

==External links==

*[http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~drc/genusensete.htm David Constantine]
*[http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/38383/ Dave's Garden] - Information on False Banana, Red Abyssinian Banana, Wild Banana (Ensete ventricosum)
*[http://www.africa.upenn.edu/eue_web/enset96.htm Enset as a crop] (UNEUE)
*[http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Hornet/Enset_Culture_19761.html Enset Culture] (UNEUE)
*[http://www.aaas.org/international/africa/enset/descrip.shtml American Association for the Advancement of Science] - The Tree Against Hunger: Enset-based Agricultural Systems in Ethiopia.
*[http://www.treemail.nl/download/treebook5.pdf Five thousand years of sustainability? A case study on Gedeo land use.] PhD dissertation by Kippie Kanshie, T. of May 2002. ISBN 90-804443-6-7, Treemail publishers, 295 pp, 20 pages of color illustrations. 
*[http://www.oxfamamerica.org/whatwedo/where_we_work/ethiopia/news_publications/art5760.html Oxfam] - Holes in the Safety Net

[[Category:Ethiopian cuisine]]
[[Category:Root vegetables]]
[[Category:Tropical agriculture]]
[[Category:Underutilized crops]]
[[Category:Zingiberales]]
[[Category:Staple foods]]