to the family Musaceae of the order Zingiberales. It is divided into several subspecies (see section below). Musa acuminata was first described by the Italian botanist Luigi Aloysius Colla in the book Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino (1820). Although other authorities have published various names for this species and its hybrids mistaken for different species (notably Musa sapientum by Linnaeus which is now known to be a hybrid of Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana), Colla's publication is the oldest name for the species and thus has precedence over the others from the rules of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. Colla also was the first authority to recognize that both Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana were wild ancestral species, even though the specimen he described was a naturally occurring seedless polyploid like cultivated bananas. Subspecies Musa acuminata is highly variable and the number of subspecies accepted can vary from six to nine between different authorities. The following are the most commonly accepted subspecies: Musa acuminata subsp. burmannica Simmonds = Musa acuminata subsp. burmannicoides De Langhe Found in Burma, southern India, and Sri Lanka. Musa acuminata subsp. errans Argent = Musa errans Teodoro, Musa troglodyatarum L. var. errans, Musa errans Teodoro var. botoan Known as saging matsing and saging chonggo (both meaning 'monkey banana'), saging na ligao ('wild banana'), and agutay in Filipino. Found in the Philippines. It is a significant maternal ancestor of many modern dessert bananas (AA and AAA groups). It is an attractive subspecies with blue-violet inflorescence and very pale green unripe fruits. Musa acuminata subsp. malaccensis (Ridley) Simmonds = Musa malaccensis Ridley Found in peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. It is the paternal parent of the latundan banana. Musa acuminata subsp. microcarpa (Beccari) Simmonds = Musa microcarpa Beccari Found in Borneo. It is the ancestor of the cultivar 'Viente Cohol'Musa acuminata subsp. siamea Simmonds Found in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. Musa acuminata subsp. truncata (Ridley) Kiew Musa acuminata subsp. zebrina (Van Houtte) R. E. Nasution Commonly known as blood bananas. Native to Java. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant for the dark red patches of color on their predominantly dark green leaves. It has very slender pseudostems with fruits containing seeds like those of grapes. It is one of the earliest bananas spread eastwards to the Pacific and westward towards Africa, where it became the paternal parent of the East African Highland bananas (the