Musa banksii is a species of wild banana, native to New Guinea, Australia (Queensland) and Samoa. It was first described by Ferdinand von Mueller in 1863 from plants collected in Queensland, Australia.Mueller, F.J.H. von. 1863-1864. Musa Banksii . Pp. 132-134 in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae, vol. 4. Thereafter, taxonomists have variously treated it as a unique species or as a subspecies of Musa acuminata. The first one to note an affinity with Musa acuminata was Ernest E. Cheesman in 1948.Cheesman E. E. 1948. Classification of the bananas. III. Critical Notes on Species. d. Musa banksii. Kew Bulletin 3(2):154-157. In 1957, Norman Simmonds reclassified it as a subspecies of Musa acuminata based on extensive field observations in New Guinea, Australia, and Samoa.Simmonds, N.W. 1956. Botanical results of the banana collecting expedition, 1954-5. Kew Bulletin 11(3):463-489. In 1976, George Argent chose to treat it as a species.Argent, G.C.G. 1976. The wild bananas of Papua New Guinea. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh 35(1):77-114.
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Musa acuminata ssp. banksii