Table 1 Taxonomic and ecological information on focal species

Abbreviated name

M. acuminata

M. balbisiana

M. maclayi

Section (previous section)

Musa (Eumusa)

Musa (Eumusa)

Callimusa (Australimusa)

Chromosomes

2n = 22

2n = 22

2n = 20

CWR group [28]

1b (bananas and plantain)

1b (bananas and plantain)

1b (Fe’i bananas)

Distribution [22]

New Guinea, N.E. Queensland, Samoa

Sikkim to Papuasia

Papuasia

Habitat

Common in disturbed sites, rainforests and roadsides [29]

Forests, ravines and farm edges [30]

Alluvial gravels, lower montane habitats including forests and seral sites such as old gardens and landslips [29]

Elevation

To 1300 m [31]

To 1200 m [30]

To 1000 m [29]

Observed pollinator

Chiropterophily: Syconycteris australis, the Common blossom bat [32]

Ornithophily: Nectarinia jugularis, the Yellow-bellied sunbird [32]

Entomophily: Butterflies and small bees

Chiropterophily: fruit bats [33, 34]

Entomophily: bumblebees

Ornithophily: Sunbirds (Nectariniidae) and Honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) [35]

Disperser

Not reported

Rodents [34]

Opossums, birds of paradise, hornbills, fruit bats

Flower form

Pendent [35]

Pendent [36]

Erect [36]

Notes on flower

Basal flowers hermaphrodite, male fertile [31, 37]

Basal flowers female with variable development of staminodes, hermaphrodite flowers never observed [29]

Basal flowers female only [29]

Country of collection

Papua New Guinea

Viet Nam

Autonomous Region of Bougainville (Papua New Guinea)

Ecoregion [38]

Northern New Guinea lowland rain and freshwater swamp forests

Northern Indochina subtropical forests

Solomon Islands rain forests

Annual mean temperature (°C) [39]

24.3 ± 2.1

21.4 ± 1.6

26.3 ± 1.3

Temperature annual range (°C) [39]

10.1 ± 2.4

18.7 ± 1.2

8.4 ± 0.4

Annual precipitation (mm) [39]

2561.0 ± 163.8

1613.8 ± 57.5

3534.2 ± 282.8

Precipitation seasonality (mm) [39]

28.4 ± 12.3

86.1 ± 6.6

15.6 ± 6.3