Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’

Origin of Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’

Ensete ventricosum is native across tropical eastern and south-central Africa, where wild plants grow in moist open habitats including forest margins, ravines, riverbanks and swamp edges.

‘Maurelii’ is the red-leaved horticultural form historically associated with Ethiopia. Maurel helped bring the red form to wider horticultural attention in France.

Container care for Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’

• Space and shelter: Give the leaves room to open fully and shelter the plant from strong wind or repeated contact with walls and furniture.
• Water: Keep the soil evenly moist while new leaves are forming. Water deeply as the upper layer starts to dry.
• Feeding: Apply a complete fertiliser every 1–2 weeks while new leaves are emerging.
• Light: Give very bright light with direct sun after gradual acclimatisation. Leave some space between the leaves and glass that becomes hot in afternoon sun.
• Temperature: Keep the plant warm, around 18–30 °C while it is growing, and above about 15 °C for steady indoor growth.
• Substrate: Use a fertile mix that holds moisture and drains freely.
• Humidity: Moderate room humidity is usually enough. Keep watering consistent and maintain air movement around the trunk-like base.
• Repotting and slower growth: Repot when roots fill the container or watering becomes difficult to manage. Reduce water and fertiliser when lower light and temperature slow leaf production.

Problems that affect Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’

• Leaf edges dry and curl: The soil is drying too far or hot, dry air is reaching the leaves. Water more consistently and move the plant away from heaters.
• Long tears develop through the leaf blades: Wind, handling or repeated contact is splitting the broad leaves. Move the plant to a sheltered position and give new leaves clear space to unfold.
• The central spear or trunk-like base becomes soft: Cold, saturated roots have caused crown or root rot. Cut away decayed tissue to firm healthy growth with a clean tool and discard the rot, then repot the firm healthy base in fresh free-draining mix.
• Fine webbing and many tiny pale spots spread across the leaves: Spider mites may be present. Isolate the plant, rinse both sides of the leaves and use a product labelled for mites, repeating according to the product label.
• Sticky residue, cottony insects or hard scale-like bumps appear: Aphids, mealybugs or scale may be present. Isolate the plant, identify the pest and use a treatment labelled for it, checking the newest rolled leaves and leaf bases closely.

Keep Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’ away from children and pets

• Keep this plant away from children, cats and dogs.
• Its effects after chewing or swallowing are unclear, and plant material can still cause an upset stomach.
• Contact a veterinarian or medical professional if symptoms develop or do not settle.

About the names Ensete ventricosum and ‘Maurelii’

Ensete comes from an Ethiopian vernacular name for the plant. Ventricosum means swollen or pot-bellied, referring to the thick pseudostem. ‘Maurelii’ honours J. Maurel, who brought the red-leaved form to wider horticultural attention.

Paul Fedorowitsch Horaninow established the genus Ensete in 1862 in Prodromus Monographiae Scitaminearum, page 40; James Bruce had proposed the name.

Friedrich Welwitsch first described it as Musa ventricosa in 1859 in Annaes do Conselho Ultramarino, Parte não Official, volume 24, page 587. Ernest Entwistle Cheesman later placed it in Ensete as Ensete ventricosum in 1948 in Kew Bulletin, volume 2, page 101.