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Gabe15 · 09-16-2010, 11:53 AM

All edible banana cultivars have been significantly changed from their wild ancestors by human selection. Many can still produce seed, and some can even self pollinate and produce seeds, but they are not like the wild species at all. There are a few forms of M. acuminata subsp. malaccensis which are documented to be parthenocarpic (and others too), but I do not know how you get a hold of these. Even then, they are rather weakly parthenocarpic and do not compare well to edible cultivars.

If you want a pure wild species, then you cannot have edible (parthenocarpic) fruit at the same time.

Basically, what separates edible bananas from the wild ones is the deliberate intervention and cultivation by people. There are no "wild cultivars". If a wild plant did not have seeds, it could not survive and would quickly be eliminated from the population, unless it was helped along by something else such as humans, and this is the process of domestication.

Even the AA types are very different from the wild species. Fe'i are very poorly studied, but even those it is known have undergone significant changes from the their wild species.

The closest you could reasonably get would be to have some AA cultivar that is derived from a single form of M. acuminata. However, this does not guarantee that it has not been hybridized with other forms of M. acuminata at some point and it would certainly be very different from the wild progenitors of it.

09-16-2010, 11:53 AM	#2 (permalink)
Gabe15 Moderator Gabe15's Photo Gallery Location: Oahu, Hawaii Find me on the map! Zone: 12 Name: Gabe Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 3,892 BananaBucks : 13,339,532 Feedback: 5 / 100% Said "Thanks" 1 Times Was Thanked 8,237 Times in 2,200 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 8 Times	Re: Pure species edible bananas? All edible banana cultivars have been significantly changed from their wild ancestors by human selection. Many can still produce seed, and some can even self pollinate and produce seeds, but they are not like the wild species at all. There are a few forms of M. acuminata subsp. malaccensis which are documented to be parthenocarpic (and others too), but I do not know how you get a hold of these. Even then, they are rather weakly parthenocarpic and do not compare well to edible cultivars. If you want a pure wild species, then you cannot have edible (parthenocarpic) fruit at the same time. Basically, what separates edible bananas from the wild ones is the deliberate intervention and cultivation by people. There are no "wild cultivars". If a wild plant did not have seeds, it could not survive and would quickly be eliminated from the population, unless it was helped along by something else such as humans, and this is the process of domestication. Even the AA types are very different from the wild species. Fe'i are very poorly studied, but even those it is known have undergone significant changes from the their wild species. The closest you could reasonably get would be to have some AA cultivar that is derived from a single form of M. acuminata. However, this does not guarantee that it has not been hybridized with other forms of M. acuminata at some point and it would certainly be very different from the wild progenitors of it. __________________ Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.