23 August 2010

ENSETE SUPERBUM

I deliberately planted this unusual Ensete superbum (common name: Banana) at the HortPark entrance signboard. The Musa acuminata var. sumatrana was planted behind the signboard.

Both are big herbaceous plants from the Musaceae Family with big leaves but unlike Musa, the Ensete does not produce suckers and is thus more difficult to propagate. So once the Ensete flowers, one has to wait patiently for the fruits to form before seeds can be collected for germination. After the seeds are set, the parent plant dies off. Hence, the Ensete is valuable due to its rareness.

A link is provided below.