2010 Volume 61 Issue 1 Pages 41-48
Musa itinerans Cheesman (Musaceae) is a highly polymorphic species, dispersed across continental Southeast Asia from Northeast India to Vietnam and the adjacent islands, with six previously described varieties viz. var. annamica, var. chinensis, var. guangdongensis, var. itinerans, var. lechangensis, var. xishuangbannaensis. This work is a continuation of the earlier study from the mainland of China and it is extended to the islands of Hainan and Taiwan. A new combination Musa itinerans var. formosana is proposed and M. itinerans var. hainanensis is described as new. A table and key for the distinguishing characteristics are provided. These studies are based on morphological characteristics observed in the field, in various herbaria as well as the literature on Musaceae.
