{{Short description|Species of banana}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Speciesbox |image = Ensete superbum.jpg |image_caption = ''Ensete superbum'' at the United States Botanic Garden |genus = Ensete |species = superbum |authority = Roxb. (1814)<ref>Roxburgh, W. (1814) Hortus Bengalensis 19: 19</ref> | synonyms = ''Musa superba'' <small>Roxb.</small> }}
'''''Ensete superbum''''' is a species of banana from India.<ref>{{GRIN | access-date=11 June 2008}}</ref>
==Distribution== The plant is well-known from the Western Ghats, Anaimalai Hills, some other South Indian hills in Dindigul and other parts of the peninsular India. It has also been recorded from Jhadol and Ogna forest ranges in Rajasthan, North India.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Sharma | first1 = S.K. | year = 1996 | title = Presence of Wild Plantain (Ensete superbum) in Rajasthan | journal = Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society | volume = 93 | issue = 2| pages = 322–323 }}</ref> There are also reports of a similar species in Thailand, but it is yet to be formally described.<ref name=Constantine>Constantine, D. (1999) The Musaceae — an annotated list of the species of Ensete, Musa and Musella. [http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~drc Website] [Internet - Accessed on 11 June 2008]</ref>
==Description== thumb|right|A page from William Roxburgh's Plants of the Coast of Coromandel, Vol. 3 with drawings of ''Ensete superbum'' 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. 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.<ref name=Constantine />
== Gallery == <gallery> File:Ensete superbum 11.jpg|Flower detail File:Ensete superbum 14.jpg|''Ensete superbum'' at Western Ghats Mountains File:Ensete superbum Plant image 2.jpg|Fruit detail File:Ensete superbum 18.jpg File:Ensete superbum 19.jpg File:Ensete superbum 17.jpg File:Ensete superbu kalluvazha.jpg File:Ensete superbum 7.jpg </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|position=left|Ensete superbum}} {{Wikispecies|position=left}} *[http://www.biodiversityofindia.org/index.php?title=Ensete_superbum Biodiversity Of India wiki: ''Ensete superbum''] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080621130028/http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~drc/esuperbumimages.htm Globalnet.co.uk: images of ''Ensete superbum'']
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superbum Category:Flora of Karnataka Category:Flora of Kerala Category:Flora of Rajasthan Category:Flora of Tamil Nadu Category:Flora of India (region) Category:South Western Ghats montane rain forests Category:Garden plants of Asia Category:Medicinal plants of Asia Category:Tropical fruit