Ensete homblei (De Wild.) Cheesman

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Habit
Termitaria within degraded miombo woodland
Mwinilunga District
May 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman

Infructescence
Termitaria within degraded miombo woodland
Mwinilunga District
May 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman

Fruit and Seeds
Termitaria within degraded miombo woodland
Mwinilunga District
May 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman

Habit
Rocky miombo woodland slope
Kalumbila District
Nov 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman

Juvenile leaves
Rocky miombo woodland slope
Kalumbila District
Nov 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman

Inflorescence
Rocky miombo woodland slope
Kalumbila District
Nov 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman

Flower
Rocky miombo woodland slope
Kalumbila District
Nov 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman

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Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)

Synonyms:	Musa homblei Bequaert ex De Wild.
Common names:	Nkondempanga (Bemba) Nkondeshakakolwe (Bemba)
Frequency:	Rare to occasional
Status:	Native
Description:	Perennial monocarpic herb up to 2.4 m tall from a swollen base covered with brown scales. Pseudostems annuals, formed by overlapping leaf-bases. Leaf blades spreading, spaced on the pseudostem, 17-40 x 7-11.5 cm, elliptic; leaves of non-flowering plants larger. Inflorescence terminal, ovoid, dense, up to 13 x 8 cm; bracts to 7 x 5 cm, ovate, concave, the lower 5-10 subtending female flowers, the middle 1-2 hermaphrodite flowers and the upper ones male flowers. Female flowers c. 3.5 cm long; calyx forming a tube 18 x 9 mm, trilobed at the apex, longitudinally split dorsally, reflexed and spirally twisted after anthesis, lobes c. 8 mm long; style 12 x 1.5 mm, stigma 6-lobed. Male flowers similar to female but lateral corolla lobes free, stamens 5, filaments c. 10 mm long, anthers c. 9 mm long. Fruits narrowly pear-shaped, somewhat angled, up to 4.5 x 2.3 cm with 20-30 seeds. Seeds subglobose, 6-7 mm diameter, black, shiny, enclosed in white pulp.
Type location:	DRC
Notes:	Red Data list status: Globally VU B2ab(iii)
Derivation of specific name:	homblei: after Henri Homblé (1883–1921), Belgian collector who collected in the DRC
Habitat:	Termitaria and slopes in rocky Brachystegiawoodland
Altitude range: (metres)
Flowering time:
Worldwide distribution:	DRC (Katanga) and northwestern Zambia
FZ divisions:	W
Zambian distribution (Provinces):	Nw
Growth form(s):	Perennial.
Endemic status:	Near Endemic
Red data list status:	Vulnerable
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Images last updated:	Tuesday 10 March 2026
Literature:	Lock, J.M. & Diniz, M.A. (2010). Musaceae Flora Zambesiaca 13(4) Pages 108 - 110. (Includes a picture).

Other sources of information about Ensete homblei:

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Ensete homblei
African Plant Database: Ensete homblei
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Ensete homblei
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Ensete homblei
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Ensete homblei
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Ensete homblei
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Ensete homblei
JSTOR Plant Science: Ensete homblei
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Ensete homblei
Plants of the World Online: Ensete homblei
Tropicos: Ensete homblei
Wikipedia: Ensete homblei