A banana without name

[asacomm]

Here is a poor banana with no name!
I do want to give it the right name, so please share me a little time to
identify what it is.

The mature height is about 10ft or so and it is one of the cold hardiest
in our climate of the zone 9.









The taste of the fruits with white flesh is very good with a nice combination
between acidity and sweetness. Very nice fragrance and flavor.

Some one says that it is much likely to "Cardaba". Could it be true?

[Yug]

I would name it "Fred", or "Frederika".

[palmtree]

The leaves remind me a little of a Blue Java, or maybe a musa balbisiana. The fruit definitely doesnt remind me of a Blue Java, but maybe Balbisiana is the answer. Just a guess though!

[asacomm]

Thank you, Yug for your reply.
But I wonder why "Fred" or "Frederika"?

[asacomm]

Thank you, Alex for your comment.
But isn't Balbisiana a wild banana with seeds?
This banana contains no seeds and really nice banana.

[bigdog]

Looks like a "Bob" to me!

[palmtree]

Your right, I am pretty sure that most if not all M. Balbisiana do have seeds in their fruit. I guess then that might not be the answer! Hope someone has an ID!

[Markku Hakkinen]

It looks to me one of those ABB cultivars. There are quite a number of them in SE Asia.
Markku.

[redflash]

Hello,
it looks for me like a musa orinoco.

Andreas

[Yug]

Originally Posted by asacomm

Thank you, Yug for your reply.
But I wonder why "Fred" or "Frederika"?

It needed a name, but gender was not specified.

Actually, does the name matter? If it grows and fruits and you are happy with it, what difference does it make?

[Yug]

Originally Posted by bigdog

Looks like a "Bob" to me!

Roberta?

[asacomm]

Thanks, Yug anyway.

[lin 842]

Originally Posted by asacomm

Thanks, Yug anyway.

Well this is pretty cool, my first day here and I already almost have a answer to my question too. It seems I have a plant that is almost exactly like the one you have only mine grows a little taller. I have had this plant for almost 20 years. Well maybe not the same one but I keep getting new ones off the older plants every year and have been supplying the neighborhood and family for all these years. It's a beautiful plant and over the period of time I have had it I have gotten them to flower twice.

I live in Va and the winters can be really hard on plants like these. I have in the past been digging them up in the fall and putting them under the house until spring and it takes about three years sometimes four for them to flower and it seems it is awful hard to to get the timing right so that they come to full bloom and make fruit in a single year once they start. I have one under my house right now that is almost 12' and hopefully it will do its thing this year because I don't know if I will be able to get it back under the house again because of it's size and weight.

I have been wondering myself what type plant this is and the reason I signed up here and paid the big bucks was because someone on another web site said that if the banana bush had a name I could find it out here. So now we have two people with the same problem and I have this big mother plant along with 5 new babies that are almost ready to be put back out in the garden and they desperately want to know where their roots came from. So Bob and Roberto just want do as I normally already name my plants Lenny and squiggy or Laverne and Shirley And I even named a batch one time Larry, Moe and Curly. Now I just want to do the politically correct thing and make sure I name them the proper names according to their heritage, we wouldn't want to offend anyone now would we?

[asacomm]

Thanks, Lin842,

I do agree with you and that is what I really wanted to say.

[sunfish]

Looks like Orinoco to me also.

[Yug]

Originally Posted by lin 842

Well this is pretty cool, my first day here and I already almost have a answer to my question too. It seems I have a plant that is almost exactly like the one you have only mine grows a little taller. I have had this plant for almost 20 years. Well maybe not the same one but I keep getting new ones off the older plants every year and have been supplying the neighborhood and family for all these years. It's a beautiful plant and over the period of time I have had it I have gotten them to flower twice.

I live in Va and the winters can be really hard on plants like these. I have in the past been digging them up in the fall and putting them under the house until spring and it takes about three years sometimes four for them to flower and it seems it is awful hard to to get the timing right so that they come to full bloom and make fruit in a single year once they start. I have one under my house right now that is almost 12' and hopefully it will do its thing this year because I don't know if I will be able to get it back under the house again because of it's size and weight.

I have been wondering myself what type plant this is and the reason I signed up here and paid the big bucks was because someone on another web site said that if the banana bush had a name I could find it out here. So now we have two people with the same problem and I have this big mother plant along with 5 new babies that are almost ready to be put back out in the garden and they desperately want to know where their roots came from. So Bob and Roberto just want do as I normally already name my plants Lenny and squiggy or Laverne and Shirley And I even named a batch one time Larry, Moe and Curly. Now I just want to do the politically correct thing and make sure I name them the proper names according to their heritage, we wouldn't want to offend anyone now would we?

Well, just to give a little background to clarify my somewhat indifferent attitude toward naming the NOID (No ID) bananas; I have grown orchids for over 25 years, and in the orchid world there are also folks trying to ID various plants they have come into possession of. Many orchids bought at hardware stores, or Wal-Mart have no name tags with the plant. Generally you want to get the plant with a nametag (I don't know if bananas have nametags when sold). Every hybrid orchid (worth having) has usually been registered with its own individual cultivar name which is supposed to be on the tag in the pot when it is sold. Things happen, however, and many of those nametags are lost. Due to the huge volume of orchid hybrids, and the myriad genetic combinations, unless your plant is a species, it is QUITE difficult (with a few rare exceptions) to ever find out what the name was. And even then, to maintain some level of integrity in the orchid world, you should NEVER hybridize, or sell that plant with the re-claimed name. The reason is that since the name was lost, you can never be totally sure that the name you believe belongs to the plant, is in fact the correct name. In the case of it being an attractive plant, we advise the owner to just keep it, grow it, and enjoy it - just don't breed with it, or sell it as what you think (but aren't totally sure) it is. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous vendors will intentionally sell misnamed plants because it will increase the plants $ value. Once your reputation is blown, however, word gets around to the rest of the orchid world.

I assume that with bananas, unless it is a species, it may also be quite difficult to determine the true name of a particular plant; especially since I believe banana hybridizing is not as meticulously recorded as it is with orchids. Therefore, I refer back to my original advice regarding the necessity of determining the name.

[asacomm]

Hi Tony,

Also for me it looks very much so.

[lin 842]

Originally Posted by Yug

Well, just to give a little background to clarify my somewhat indifferent attitude toward naming the NOID (No ID) bananas; I have grown orchids for over 25 years, and in the orchid world there are also folks trying to ID various plants they have come into possession of. Many orchids bought at hardware stores, or Wal-Mart have no name tags with the plant. Generally you want to get the plant with a nametag (I don't know if bananas have nametags when sold). Every hybrid orchid (worth having) has usually been registered with its own individual cultivar name which is supposed to be on the tag in the pot when it is sold. Things happen, however, and many of those nametags are lost. Due to the huge volume of orchid hybrids, and the myriad genetic combinations, unless your plant is a species, it is QUITE difficult (with a few rare exceptions) to ever find out what the name was. And even then, to maintain some level of integrity in the orchid world, you should NEVER hybridize, or sell that plant with the re-claimed name. The reason is that since the name was lost, you can never be totally sure that the name you believe belongs to the plant, is in fact the correct name. In the case of it being an attractive plant, we advise the owner to just keep it, grow it, and enjoy it - just don't breed with it, or sell it as what you think (but aren't totally sure) it is. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous vendors will intentionally sell misnamed plants because it will increase the plants $ value. Once your reputation is blown, however, word gets around to the rest of the orchid world.

I assume that with bananas, unless it is a species, it may also be quite difficult to determine the true name of a particular plant; especially since I believe banana hybridizing is not as meticulously recorded as it is with orchids. Therefore, I refer back to my original advice regarding the necessity of determining the name.

Well now, I understand what you are saying here about the orchid thing and hopefully you didn't take my post wrong. I can come off somewhat abrasive at times in my writings but it is not always intended that way. Although I do think that on an information site such as this the OP's question would not be too far out of line and Certainty was an interest to me because it appears to be the same plant I have been loving and caring for for so many years.

These banana trees are just like pets to me and people that see them in my garden all want them and for years I would give them away only to find out later that they had been murdered by their new owners either by stupidity or by kindness just like with any other pet people pass from one household to another. I have given many of these plants to people that do take on the responsibility just like any other living thing and they care for them and over the years do what it takes to keep them coming back year after year. It takes a lot of work to keep and maintain these plants year after year and now I am careful about who I even give them to for fear they don't share my same enthusiasm as I do.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a bleeding heart liberal tree huger or anything I just enjoy playing around in the garden and the old fellow that gave me this banana tree only gave it to me if I promised to take care of them. He was getting old and was worried that once he was gone his prize banana trees would die along with him. I promised that I would keep his babies going and have been every since but now I'm getting up in the years and have the same problem as my old friend did. Right now I have a neighbor that I feel will pick up the torch and carry the tradition on. They have a farm and love and care for their animals so I think they will be in good hands. I don't know how many more years I will be able to drag these things under the house in the winter so I'm fixing a place over at his farm to keep my promise to my old friend just like he did to the old guy that gave the plants to him.


I have been asked hundreds of times what kind of banana is that? I always in the past just said, I don't know but ain't it pretty? The old guy I got it from didn't know and I didn't really care until just recently. I guess it's just a old person thing and back when I got this plant Al Gore had not invented the internet yet and it was hard to find out things like this. I did some searching locally at garden stores but nobody knew anything about them and I tried the internet thing but could never hit the right button to find out anything about it. Then one day I was on a welding site asking about a problem I had welding a piece of aluminum I was trying to weld and someone asked about the banana bush I had in my signature line. One thing led to another and someone asked what kind of plant it was and when I told him I don't know someone else posted the addy to this site and said I could surely find out here. So here I am just an old fart looking for answers without any clues.

Oh and thanks to the couple posters that gave possible answers to this mystery it is very much appreciated. I haven't had enough time to go over the entire site but over the next couple days I plan to give it a good look through but right now the weather is too pretty to stay inside and play on this dang magic box.

[lin 842]

Originally Posted by asacomm

Thank you, Alex for your comment.
But isn't Balbisiana a wild banana with seeds?
This banana contains no seeds and really nice banana.

Did you eat any of these fruits? Mine never have ended up as pretty as yours I guess the timing has always been off and they never got ripe before the season ended and I had to put it away and the next spring there was nothing but this giant 12' stalk with a root sticking out the top with the bloom on it but it never did do much after that. I tried to eat a couple that I pulled off green before I put it away and let them turn but they didn't have much taste at all.

[asacomm]

Hi lin 842,

Yes, I eat the fruits. They tasted really good with a nice combination
of sweetness and acidity.