Musa coccinea

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Italic title}} {{Speciesbox | name = Scarlet banana | image = Berthe Hoola van Nooten02.jpg | image_caption = Illustration of inflorescence | status = EN | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN/> | genus = Musa | parent = Musa sect. Callimusa | species = coccinea | authority = Andrews<ref name=trop1/> | synonyms = ''Quesnelia lamarckii'' Baker | synonyms_ref = <ref name=WCSP_254796/> }}

'''''Musa coccinea''''', commonly known as '''scarlet banana'''<ref name=grin/> or '''red-flowering banana''',<ref name=cw/> is a species of flowering plant in the banana and plantain family Musaceae, native to tropical China (in Guangdong, Guangxi, and southeastern Yunnan) and Vietnam.<ref name=grin/> It is a bat-pollinated<ref name=ab/> evergreen perennial, placed in section ''Callimusa'' (now including the former section ''Australimusa''), having a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 20.<ref name=Wong02/>

The flower cluster is more rounded than in the related species ''M. beccarii''. It is made up of erect spirals of red bracts which enclose tubular yellow flowers. The inedible fruits are orange, only about {{convert|2|cm|in|abbr=on|1}} long, and contain seeds.<ref name=Ploe07/> The species is cultivated for its ornamental value,<ref name=grin/> being grown, for example, along with heliconias in commercial farms in Hawaii.<ref name=Ploe07/> It does not tolerate temperatures below {{convert|10 |C|F|abbr=on}}, so in temperate zones requires protection during the winter months. In the UK it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.<ref name = RHSPF>{{cite web | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/11233/i-Musa-coccinea-i/Details | title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Musa coccinea'' | access-date=4 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 65 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | access-date = 4 April 2018}}</ref>

''M. coccinea'' is a known host in the New World of the red palm mite (''Raoiella indica'').<ref name=cw/>

==Taxonomy== thumb|right|Flower

''Musa coccinea'' was described by Andrews in 1799. ''M. uranoscopos'' Lour. (an illegitimate name) is often incorrectly given as a synonym. Loureiro's 1790 account is confused. He refers to an illustration in Rumphius' 1747 ''Herbarium Amboinense'', hence this is the type of his name. However, this illustration had previously been used in Linnaeus' description of ''M. troglodytarum'', so ''M. uranoscopos'' Lour. is a superfluous name for ''M. troglodytarum''. Loureiro's description {{em|is}} of ''M. coccinea''; however the type rather than the description determines the synonymity, so ''M. uranoscopos'' Lour. is not a synonym of ''M. coccinea''.<ref name=HakkVareChri12/>

==References== {{Reflist|refs=

<ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn | author1 = Allen, R. | author2 = Plummer, J. | name-list-style = amp | title = ''Musa coccinea'' | article-number = e.T111907070A111907072 | year = 2020 | access-date = 25 February 2022}}</ref>

<ref name=ab>{{ cite journal |author1=Theodore H. Fleming |author2=Cullen Geiselman |author3=W. John Kress |name-list-style=amp |title=The evolution of bat pollination: a phylogenetic perspective |journal=Annals of Botany |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=November 2009 |volume=104 |issue=6 |pages=1017–1043 |doi=10.1093/aob/mcp197 |pmc=2766192 |pmid=19789175}}</ref>

<ref name=cw>{{ cite web |author=Cal Welbourn |title=Pest Alert for Red palm mite ''Raoiella indica'' Hirst (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) |publisher=Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry |date=May 1, 2009 |url=http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/ento/r.indica.html |access-date=June 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202081139/http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/ento/r.indica.html |archive-date=December 2, 2010 }}</ref>

<ref name=grin>{{GRIN | access-date=June 4, 2011}}</ref>

<ref name=HakkVareChri12>{{Cite journal |last1=Häkkinen |first1=M. |last2=Väre |first2=H. |last3=Christenhusz |first3=M.J.M. |year=2012 |title=Identity of a ''Pisang'' – historical concepts of ''Musa'' (Musaceae) and the reinstatement of ''Musa troglodytarum'' |journal=Folia Malaysiana |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=1–14 |name-list-style=amp }}</ref>

<ref name=Ploe07>{{cite book |last1=Ploetz |first1=R.C. |last2=Kepler |first2=A.K. |last3=Daniells |first3=J. |last4=Nelson |first4=S.C. |year=2007 |chapter=Banana and Plantain: An Overview with Emphasis on Pacific Island Cultivars |editor-last=Elevitch |editor-first=C.R |title=Species Profiles for Pacific Island Agroforestry |location=Hōlualoa, Hawaii |publisher=Permanent Agriculture Resources (PAR) |url=http://agroforestry.net/tti/Banana-plantain-overview.pdf |access-date=January 10, 2013 |name-list-style=amp }}</ref>

<ref name=trop1> ''Musa coccinea'' was originally described and published in ''Botanist's Repository, for new, and rare plants.'' 1: pl. 47. 1799. {{ cite web |url=http://www.tropicos.org/Name/21500433 |title=Name - !''Musa coccinea'' Andrews |work=Tropicos |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |location=Saint Louis, Missouri |quote=Type-Protologue: Locality: Thomas Evans received it about the year 1792, from China. Our figure was taken, in part, from a plant which flowered at James Vere's, last December, and partly from one in blossom about the same time, at the Hon. Lady Archer's |access-date=June 4, 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="WCSP_254796">{{Citation |contribution=Musa coccinea|title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=254796 |access-date=2013-01-24}}</ref>

<ref name=Wong02>{{cite journal |last1=Wong |first1=C. |last2=Kiew |first2=R. |last3=Argent |first3=G. |last4=Set |first4=O. |last5=Lee |first5=S.K. |last6=Gan |first6=Y.Y. |year=2002 |title=Assessment of the Validity of the Sections in ''Musa'' (Musaceae) using ALFP |journal=Annals of Botany |volume=90 |issue=2 |pages=231–238 |doi=10.1093/aob/mcf170 |name-list-style=amp |pmc=4240415 |pmid=12197520}}</ref>

}}

== External links == :Pictures from PlantSystematics.Org *[http://www.plantsystematics.org/users/kcn2/7_14_04/Zingiber1_up/Musa_cocc1.jpg Scarlet banana in flower] *[http://www.plantsystematics.org/users/kcn2/7_14_04/Zingiber1_up/Musa_cocc2.jpg Closer view of inflorescences]

coccinea Category:Plants described in 1799 Category:Flora of China Category:Flora of Vietnam Category:Garden plants Category:Taxa named by Henry Cranke Andrews