Classification of the bananas. III. Critical notes on species: c. M. paradisiaca L. and M. sapientum L.
Abstract : It is not within the main purpose of these notes to discuss verities of edible bananas or Latin names that have been applied to them, but exceptions must be made of the two Linnean combinations that dominate the whole literature of the genus. These two names are still valid, and between them cover a large number of horticultural varieties, but they are frequently misapplied. Their correct application requires some knowledge of their history, and as they have been from the beginning closely connected, they may best be discussed together. The commonest usage is that M. paradisiaca is applied to "plantains" and M. sapientum to "bananas", but many authorities have pointed out that a specific distinction between, plantains and bananas is artificial. Several botanists, after noting the close resemblances between plantains and some dessert bananas, have gone on to assume close relationship between plantains and all bananas, and have treated all, or nearly all, the varieties as belonging to a single species.