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OK242
03-25-2011, 05:41 PM
Since I am new to the forum, I have no clue which parts of the banana plants that y'all are talking about. I have figured out that pups are the baby plants that grow off the main plant, but I have no clue what a pstem or a corm or any of the other words I see here refer to.

Is there perhaps an illustrated vocabulary list somewhere?

I am having some difficulty finding much useful information without knowing the vocabulary.

OK242
03-25-2011, 05:46 PM
what is a sword pup? how is it different from some other pup (sucker)?

sunfish
03-25-2011, 05:57 PM
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=326 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=326&cpage=2&size=big&ppuser=5)

sunfish
03-25-2011, 06:06 PM
http://www.bananas.org/f2/water-suckers-5285.html#post46506

pitangadiego
03-25-2011, 09:35 PM
Pstem = Pseudostem - this is the part that you would call the "trunk" on a tree. However, in a banana, it is composed of banana leaf stem packed together, and not woody tissue like a Maple or Elm. Hence the term pseudo or imitation.

Corm - the actual plant, which is basically a ball of material which lives at or below the soil line. Root s sprout from it, and leaves. The leaves that form the pseudostem begin at the corm, very close to the soil line. So, if you cut the plant off near the ground, all you have really done is trim off all of the leaves.

Pup = Keiki = Sucker, etc. - This is a "baby" plant which come up beside the parent plant. This is the main way bananas are propagated, as most varieties do not normally produce seeds (a good thing) which are used to propagate many other plants. Each banana plant flowers once, producing fruit, and then dies, so the pups provide the next crop of bananas,.

Flag leaf - the last "leaf" to emerge from the pseudostem prior to the emergence of the flower spike. It is usually shorter and distinctive looking, and a sure sign that flowering is about to occur.

See Growing Tips at We Be Bananas http://webebananas.com/culture.html

MediaHound
03-27-2011, 05:11 AM
Banana Diagrams (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=593)
These photos are educational diagrams that explain more about bananas.

RayS
03-27-2011, 09:22 AM
Awesome illustrations!