Musa ingens

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The plant species Musa ingens, also known as the giant highland banana or Oem,[1] is the physically largest member of the family Musaceae and the only member of the section Ingentimusa. Growing in the tropical montane forests of New Guinea - Arfak Mountains Regency in Indonesia, its leaves can reach a length of Template:Cvt and a width of Template:Cvt.[2] This, the largest herbaceous plant on earth, was completely unknown to science prior to 1960.[1]

Description

The "trunk" (actually the tightly rolled petioles (or stalks) of its leaves; the longest petioles of any known plant) is typically up to Template:Cvt in height, and with the leaves having a total height of Template:Cvt. Since its discovery in 1954, though, taller individuals up to Template:Cvt have been reported,[3]Template:Better source needed but these measurements have yet to be verified by accurate measuring methods. Photos exist of M. ingens "trunks" up to Template:Cvt in diameter at breast height. Its fruit grows in a cluster weighing up to Template:Cvt consisting of about twenty "hands" (cymes) of 16 to 20 fruit each.[1] The cluster is borne on a peduncle up to Template:Cvt thick and up to Template:Cvt in length, again the longest of any known plant. The large inflorescence can hold over 300 oblong fruit, Template:Cvt long, that are filled with blackish-brown seeds and yellowish pulp that is edible, sweet, and delicious when cooked, and according to some, reminiscent of fine butternut squash mixed with a sweet banana with a dash of tangy lime and citrus added.[4]Template:Better source needed

References

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  2. Notes from Royal Bot. Garden Edinburgh Vol. 35 # 1 (1976) pp. 111-112
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External links

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