Musaceae
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Musaceae > |
Read about Musaceae in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Musaceae (from the genus Musa, the Arabic name). Banana Family. Fig. 12. Large, semi-ligneous herbs, the stout stem enveloped at base by the sheathing petioles, unbranched: leaves alternate entire, convolute, pinnately parallel-veined: flowers bisexual, or unisexual, irregular, epigynous, borne in the axil of a bract in spikes with subtending spathes; nectaries ovarian; perianth of 6 parts, in 2 series, the parts unequal in size and shape, separate or variously united; stamens 6, 5 fertile and 1 staminodium; ovary inferior, 3-celled; ovules solitary and basal, or numerous and axile, anatropous; style 1; stigmas usually 3: fruit fleshy and pulpy or drupaceous, indehiscent, dehiscent or separating into fruitlets; seeds with perisperm; embryo straight. Six genera and about 60 species occur, 30 of which belong to the genus Heliconia and 20 to Musa, of general tropical distribution. Fossil species are known. The family is related to the Marantaceae, Zingiberaceae and Cannaceae; with the last it is often united. These families all have irregular flowers of the same type, and inferior ovaries; but the Musaceae differ in their slightly differentiated calyx and corolla, in the 5 fertile stamens, and in the absence of aromatic principles. The banana (Musa paradisiaca, M. sapientum, etc.) is the most important economic plant, the fruit of which is widely used for food. The pith of the stem, top of the floral spike, and also the shoots, are eaten as vegetables. The fibers from the petioles of Musa textilis are made into thread and fabrics. The leaves are used to thatch huts. The traveler's tree (Ravenala madagascariensis) holds sufficient water at the leaf bases to serve for drink. The water is obtained by boring the sheath. The seeds of this tree are eaten. Four genera are in cultivation in the South and in conservatories, for ornament; and one also, Musa, for the fruit: Heliconia (Balisier, Wild Plantain); Musa (Banana, Plantain Tree, Chumpa, Adam's Fig); Ravenala (Traveler's Tree); Strelitzia (Bird of Paradise Flower).CH
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Genera
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Musaceae distribution
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References
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
External links
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