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| Ensete | |
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| Ensete superbum at theUnited States Botanic Garden | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Zingiberales |
| Family: | Musaceae |
| Genus: | Ensete Bruce |
| Species | |
See text | |
Ensete is agenus ofmonocarpic flowering plantsnative to tropical regions of Africa and Asia. It is one of the three genera in thebanana family,Musaceae, and includes the false banana or enset (E. ventricosum), an economically important food crop in Ethiopia.[1][2][3]
The genusEnsete was first described byPaul Fedorowitsch Horaninow (orHoraninov, 1796–1865) in hisProdromus Monographiae Scitaminarum of 1862 in which he created a single species,Ensete edule. However, the genus did not receive general recognition until 1947 when it was revived byE. E. Cheesman in the first of a series of papers in theKew Bulletin on the classification of the bananas, with a total of 25 species.[4]
Taxonomically, the genusEnsete has shrunk since Cheesman revived thetaxon. Cheesman acknowledged that field study might revealsynonymy and the most recent review of the genus by Simmonds (1960) listed just six. Recently the number has increased to seven as the Flora ofChina has, not entirely convincingly, reinstatedEnsete wilsonii. There is one species inThailand, somewhat resemblingE. superbum, that has not been formally described, and possibly other Asian species.[citation needed]
It is possible to separateEnsete into its African and Asian species.
Ensete oregonenseClarno Formation, Oregon, United States,Eocene[5]
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