Addition of an enset to the Vietnamese flora

19/02/2013

In support of projects VN CBD 600174 funded by IUCN NL and09-92488-000-GSS by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, scientists at the Southern Institute of Ecology, formerly known as Center for Biodiversity and Development, under Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, have found a new enset at Takou Nature Reserve, Binh Thuan Province. The finding is recently published on Folia malaysiana 13(2).

The species is named as Ensete lecongkietiito honor Prof. Le Cong Kiet at the University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, for his great contribution to the nation’s botanical research and capacity building.

Photo: Ensete lecongkietii (by Luu Hong Truong)

This is the second enset known to occur in Vietnam. Unlike Musa species that can regenerate by suckering, E. lecongkietii regenerates by seeds only, which are produced after the mother plant survive 3 to 4 years. The mother plant dies after this reproduction.

The newly discovered species, which is called as chuốimồcôi (meaning orphan banana plant) by local people, exists in very small-size sub-populations in limited forest area. Uncontrolledly harvested for ornamental and medicinal purposes, it should be urgently protected and multiplicated.

Source: Southern Institute of Ecology
Link to Vietnamese version