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A new species of wild banana, Musa paramjitiana L. J. Singh, from the Andaman Islands, India is described and illustrated, and its conservation status is assessed. A key to the species of Musa L. from Andaman and Nicobar Islands is also provided.

Musa nagalandiana S. Dey & Gogoi, a new species of Musa sect. Musa, is described and illustrated from Zunheboto district, Nagaland, India based on morphological characteristics observed in the field. The new species is rare in the wild and found in tropical semi-evergreen forest on the bank of the river Doyang, in Zunheboto district of Nagaland. A key to M. nagalandiana and related taxa is provided.

Musa aurantiaca Baker (Musaceae) is distributed from northeast India, Tibet to northern Myanmar. In the present study its intraspecific taxa are thoroughly investigated. Two new varieties are described and illustrated based on live plants in the field: M. aurantiaca Baker var. homenborgohainiana Gogoi and M. aurantiaca Baker var. jengingensis Gogoi. A key to the varieties of Musa aurantiaca Baker and closely related taxa is also provided.

The taxonomic identity of Musa flaviflora Simmonds (1956a) and Musa thomsonii (King ex Baker) A. M. Cowan & Cowan (1929) have been uncertain to most botanists and have fallen towards oblivion. These two species have also been erroneously synonymized by many botanists but are distinct species with different distributions, viz. M. flaviflora from the northeastern parts of India and M. thomsonii from Bhutan, Sikkim, the Himalayan hills of India and Yunnan, China. The aim of this study is to settle the true identity of those ‘lost species’ and to update their descriptions. These studies are based on morphological characteristics observed in the field in northeast India, and Yunnan, China, in various herbaria as well as in the literature on Musaceae.

Within the genus Musa (Musaceae) there are five sections. One of these sections is Musa (formerly called Eumusa), which possess predominately pendant inflorescences and are responsible for the production of edible bananas which are of great importance around the world as a food source. Another section of the genus Musa is Rhodochlamys. Most members of this section possess erect inflorescences with brightly colored bracts and are grown mainly for their ornamental value. Intersectional hybrids between the sections Musa and Rhodochlamys have been reported in the past but these hybrids were not characterized or described in any detail by the authors. In this manuscript a new intersectional hybrid banana, Musa georgiana Rich. H. Wallace hyb. nov. grown in Richmond Hill, Georgia, USA is described and illustrated. The plant has as its maternal parent, Musa balbisiana, a member of M. sect. Musa and one of the seeded ancestors of edible bananas. The paternal parent is Musa velutina, a brightly coloured member of M. sect. Rhodochlamys, grown worldwide for its ornamental value. The resulting hybrid, M. georgiana, provides useful information for banana breeding programs around the world and has ornamental potential as well. In light of the pest and disease pressure, edible bananas are experiencing, the incorporation of genetic resources from other members of the genus is becoming increasingly important in the development of new hybrid edible bananas. A comparison of the characteristics of M. georgiana with those of the parent species is provided. (Author's abstract).

Musa yunnanensis Hakkinen & H. Wang (Musaceae) is distributed across the Mekong River watershed in Yunnan, China. In the present study its intraspecific taxa are thoroughly investigated. These wild Musa species and varieties are commonly planted for animal fodder in higher elevations due to their cold tolerance. Three varieties of M. yunnanensis described here as a new taxa, M.yunnanensis var. caii Hakkinen & H. Wang, M.yunnanensis var. yongpingensis Hakkinen & H. Wang and M.yunnanensis var. jingdongensis Hakkinen & H. Wang, are morphologically described and illustrated based on data from field studies in Yunnan, China in 2005, 2006 and 2007. A table with the diagnostic characters of the new varieties, as well as for M. yunnanensis var. yunnanensis, is provided.

The center of diversity of the genus Musa (Musaceae) is in southeast Asia, a region not studied in detail and where new species and varieties are reported continously. Here, a new wild banana species Musa zaifui Hakkinen & H. Wang from Yunnan, China, is described and illustrated. These studies are based on observed morphological characteristics in the field and from cultivated plants in the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden. Musa sect. Rhodochlamys in west Yunnan and east Myanmar have a rich diversity caused by their hermaphroditic flowers in which self-pollination takes place before the bracts open. This habit has evolved in response to their isolation in different watersheds and the lack of proper pollinators. The seeds of these plants' fruits are dispersed in the local area by small mammals. Hybrids are very seldomly encountered due to self-pollination. Musa zaifui is only observed in a wet ditch covered with secondary forest on the eastern bank of Da Yingjiang River, on the way from Yingjiang to Longchuan (about 50 km from Yingjiang), Dehong District, west Yunnan. A key to M. zaifui and related taxa is provided.

The present work is part of a continuing study to revise the old names in Musa and aims to clarify the taxonomy in the sections Rhodoclamys and Callimusa. Lectotypes are designated here for Musa sect. Callimusa and M. sect. Rhodochlamys. These sections were first erected without the indication of a type species.

The section Heliconia comprises stout musoid species with erect inflorescences, thick, deeply cymbiform spathes and greenish flowers on untwisted pedicels. Seven species are recognized viz.: (1) H. bihai (L.) L., (2) H. rodriguensis Aristeg., (3) H. caribaea Lam., (4) H. bourgaeana Peters., (5) H. stricta Huber, (6) H. wagneriana Peters, and (7) H. ortotricha Anderss. sp. nov. The circumscription of the section is discussed, and it appears that closest affinities are with H. latispalha Benth., H. spatho–circinata Aristeg. and allied species, and also with H. lourteigii Emygdio & Santos and H. tenebrosa Macbr. Two groups can be discerned in the section, one comprising species 1–3 and the other species 5–7, H. bourgaeana occupying a somewhat isolated and more or less intermediate position. A key to species is given and each species is described and illustrated. Particular attention is paid to variation in diagnostically important features.

The chromosome number 2n = 24 was determined in 31 taxa of Heliconia, representing nearly the entire morphological spectrum of the genus. The karyotype is a graded series of rather small chromosomes ranging between 0.7 and 1.7 urn. One pair has satellites. It is concluded that morphological chromosome differentiation played no great part in the diversification of the genus.