Table 1.
Accepted species of the genus Ensete, with details of conservation and domestication.
| Accepted species* | Common names and synonyms | Conservation status† and distribution | Domestication status | Uses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | |||||
| Ensete homblei | None | DD; possibly restricted range | Crop wild relative | Unknown | The majority of locality information for this species, is from historical herbarium collections. Reported to die down to the corm in the dry season (Timberlake and Martins, 2010). |
| Ensete ventricosum | Abyssinian banana, False banana, E. edule | LC; widely distributed | Domesticated & crop wild relative | Human food; animal fodder; fibre; packaging; medicine; ornamental | Due to the practice of harvesting domestic enset before the flowers mature, there is probably limited gene flow between wild and cultivated populations (Birmeta et al., 2004). |
| Ensete livingstonianum | E. gilettii | LC; widely distributed. | Crop wild relative | Unknown | Reported to die down to the corm in the dry season (J.S.B., pers. obs.). |
| Ensete perrieri | Madagascar banana, Musa perrieri | CR; endemic to Madagascar; only three known mature individuals. | Crop wild relative | Unknown | Reported to die down to the corm in the dry season (Schatz and Phillipson, 2011). Possibly present in the ornamental trade, but genetic confirmation of identity required. |
| Asia | |||||
| Ensete superbum | Cliff banana | EN; endemic to India | Crop wild relative | Human food; packaging; medicine; ornamental | Overharvesting from the wild of leaves, seeds and young plants has been reported (Bhise et al., 2015). |
| Ensete glaucum | Snow banana | LC; widely distributed (E. glaucum var. wilsonii listed as DD) | Evidence of utilization | Animal fodder; cultural; ornamental | Denham and Donohue (2009). There is some doubt as to whether E. glaucum var. wilsonii (Tucher) Häkkinen is distinct from E. glaucum. The two species are largely sympatric, with E. glaucum var. wilsonii being a smaller, higher elevation species endemic to Yunnan (Wu and Kress, 2000). Possibly present in the ornamental trade, but could be E. glaucum. |
| Ensete lecongkietii | Orphan banana | NE (Not Evaluated); endemic to Vietnam | Crop wild relative | Unknown | The most recently described Ensete species (Luu et al., 2012). |
| Close relatives | |||||
| Musella lasiocarpa | Golden lotus banana E. lasiocarpa, Musella lasiocarpum | DD; essentially unknown in the wild, but common in agricultural areas. | Semi-cultivated | Medicinal use; human food; animal fodder; fibre; alleviation of soil erosion; ornamental. | There is some degree of conflict in the literature over whether the genus Musella is truly distinct from the genus Ensete (Liu et al., 2003; Li et al., 2010). We follow recent evidence (Janssens et al., 2016). |
*Sources: All species reported here are considered accepted species by POWO (WCSP, 2018).
†IUCN Red List conservation status classifications: NE, Not Evaluated; DD, Data Deficient; LC, Least Concern; EN, Endangered; CR, Critically Endangered.