Kingdom:
Plantae
Sub
division: Angiosperm
Order:
Zingiberales
Family:
Musaceae
Genus: Musa
Species:
acuminate, balbisiana
Scientific
name: Musa acuminata, Musa balbisiana
Chromosome number: x = 11 and
2n = 22 (diploid), 3n =33(triploid) and 4n =44 (tetraploid).
Climate: Tropical and humid
climate.
Fruit bearing habit:
Terminal and old season growth
Fruit type: Berry (fruit
developed through vegetative parthenocarpy)
Edible part: Mesocarp and
endocarp
Aroma compound responsible
for fruits: 2-Hexanal, Eugenol and Isopentanol in ripe and over ripe stage
respectively.
Respiratory behaviour of
fruit: Climacteric and medium rate of respiration as well as ethylene production.
Inflorescence: Spadix (A spike of minute flowers closely arranged
round a fleshy axis and typically enclosed in a
spathe. It can also be found in
Coconut)
Pollination: Cross
pollination due to dichogamy i.e. protogyny (The female reproductive organ or the gynocium
mature prior to the androcium or male reproductive organ)
Pollinising agent: Humming
bird
Leaf: Simple leaf with
parallel venation
Photoperiodic response: Day
neutral plant
Method of propagation: Sword
suckers
True stem: Rhizome (Rhizomes are characterized by horizontal
underground growth;
production of roots from multiple nodes; and production of clonal plants).
production of roots from multiple nodes; and production of clonal plants).
False stem: Pseudostem ( It is formed
by the tightly packed overlapping leaf sheaths)
Linnaeus originally placed banana into two species based only
on their uses as food: Musa sapientum for dessert bananas
and Musa paradisiaca for plantains.
Latter scientist found that Musa sapientum and Musa paradisiaca were
cultivars and descendants of two wild seed-producing species, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana .
In the recent years the banana are
classified according to three morphologically
distinct groups of cultivars – those primarily exhibiting the botanical
characteristics of Musa balbisiana, those primarily exhibiting the
botanical characteristics of Musa acuminata, and those with
characteristics of both. The accepted scientific names for most groups
of cultivated bananas are Musa
acuminata Colla and Musa balbisiana Colla for the ancestral species,
and Musa × paradisiaca L. for
the hybrid M. acuminata × M. balbisiana.
Generally, modern classifications of banana
cultivars follow Simmonds and Shepherd's system. Cultivars are placed in groups
based on the number of chromosomes they have and which species they are derived
from. The complete genome sequences of Musa acuminate was released during 2012
and the genome size it was found to be 523 Megabase pairs.
Banana
is a monocotyledonous, monocarpic (flowering only once in a plant’s life cycle) and herbaceous plant. Wild banana
cultivars are diploid where as the cultivated ones are triploid. It is known as "kalpataru" means plant of virtue. India ranks first in terms of area and
production in the world.
