Ensete glaucum
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2011}}
{{Speciesbox
| image =
| image_caption =
| image2 =
| image2_caption = Snow banana
| genus = Ensete
| species = glaucum
| authority = (Roxb.) Cheesman
}}
Ensete glaucum, the snow banana, has also been classified as Musa nepalensis, Ensete giganteum, or Ensete wilsonii.
Distribution
This gigantic monocarpic herbaceous plant is native to China, Nepal, India, Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam and Thailand.{{cite web|title=Plant Detail - Ensete glaucum (Roxb.) Cheesman|url=https://florafaunaweb.nparks.gov.sg/Special-Pages/plant-detail.aspx?id=4089|website=NParks Flora & Fauna Web|access-date=21 April 2018|archive-date=10 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210144652/https://florafaunaweb.nparks.gov.sg/Special-Pages/plant-detail.aspx?id=4089|url-status=dead}}
It grows from {{convert|2600|-|8800|ft|m}} in elevation.{{Citation needed|date=April 2018}}
Description
Ensete glaucum has a thick, waxy with sometimes bluish tinge, solitary pseudostem. It grows larger than the Abyssinian Banana (Ensete ventricosum).
Its leaves are {{convert|1.4|-|1.8|m|ft}} long and {{convert|50|-|60|cm|in}} wide.{{cite web|title=Ensete glaucum - Snow Banana|url=https://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Snow%20Banana.html|website=Flowers of India|access-date=21 April 2018}}
Cultivation and uses
The plant is cultivated as an ornamental plant, for its unique swollen bulbous base and large leaves and is used to feed pigs in parts of China.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}
In India the pulp of the fruit is eaten, considered highly medicinal, and given to infants and patients. Young shoots and a flowering part are eaten as a vegetable. The plant is used in religious and domestic celebrations.{{cite web |title=Ensete glaucum |url=https://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/229595 |website=India Biodiversity Portal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918163426/https://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/229595 |archive-date=Sep 18, 2021}}
It is easy to raise from seed. It is an extremely fast growing banana given heat, but not as hardy as the Abyssinian Banana (Ensete ventricosum), and is not as well known.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{Wikispecies-inline}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1713017}}
Category:Flora of tropical Asia
Category:Plants described in 1820
Category:Garden plants of Asia
{{Zingiberales-stub}}