Musa beccarii (Musaceae) Varieties in Sabah, Northern Borneo

Abstract

Musa beccarii Simmonds var. beccarii is re-described based on extensive field studies in the eastern part of Sabah, Malaysia. Then a new variety of wild banana, M. beccarii Simmonds var. hottana Hakkinen, is described and illustrated. This extremely rare new variety was only found in one area at the lower Kinanbatangan River, eastern part of Sabah. It is also considered that M. pigmaea M. Hotta nom. nud. from East Kalimantan, Indonesia, might be the synonym or a closely related variety to the new variety.