View Full Version : Does this look Like a Williams Banana Plant?
Hi everyone I have been trying to ID this banana plant that I planted in my yard in the late 90's. I have been looking at pictures of banana trees and buds and I think it could be a Williams Banana plant. What do you guys think? Susan
I was doing a little more research and I believe I have a tall Cavendish type banana plant. It could be a Williams, Giant Cavendish, or Valery plant. The banana plant is about 10' Tall and 3' around at the base of the plant. The Pseudostem has dark brown and black and the rachis looks like it will be mostly bare. The male flowers were white with yellow tips and a the dead flowers do not fall off the bananas. Susan
venturabananas
11-17-2014, 12:05 PM
I couldn't tell you which Cavendish cultivar you have, but I agree that it is a Cavendish. I would call it a medium height one, not tall. There are tall Cavendish cultivars that average around 15', rather than 10'. If the rachis ends up being clean, then Williams is as good a guess as any.
Nicolas Naranja
11-20-2014, 01:47 PM
Williams is a likely candidate as it is widely tissue cultured and available in the nursery industry.
Cavendish type banana plant update. It looks like the rachis is clean, so maybe it is a Williams. The bananas from the first plant started to turn yellow. They have a lemony flavor. Does the Williams bananas have a lemony flavor? Thanks Susan
PR-Giants
01-02-2015, 07:35 AM
Your photos are very small, but the shape of the male bud does not look like a Williams.
Cavendish type banana plant update. It looks like the rachis is clean, so maybe it is a Williams. The bananas from the first plant started to turn yellow. They have a lemony flavor. Does the Williams bananas have a lemony flavor? Thanks Susan
Thanks any idea what it could be? If you click on the photo it gets a little bigger. I can put them in the photo gallery sometimes but I don't know how to get them from the gallery to the thread.
Thanks again Susan
I uploaded some photos to my gallery "Unknown Cavendish". Thanks for your help
venturabananas
01-02-2015, 12:11 PM
Just click on your photo in the gallery, which will bring up the photo and three fields, one of which is "code for bulletin boards" and paste that into you message.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57327&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57327)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57329&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57329)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57335&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57335&ppuser=16716)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57328&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57328&ppuser=16716)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57332&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57332&ppuser=16716)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57330&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57330&ppuser=16716)
venturabananas
01-02-2015, 12:15 PM
I'm not sure what you have. All the Cavendish varieties basically taste the same to me. I wouldn't describe any as tasting lemony, but someone else might. The couple of Cavendish varieties I grow taste the same as supermarket ones to me, more or less, except they are sweeter and ripen a little differently.
Thanks for your help. These bananas don't taste like the ones found in the store. I think they are better very lemony. They look a little different than the store bought ones a little fatter. The peels are kind of shiny or glossy. :goteam:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57332&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57332&ppuser=16716)
It can't be that special of a banana plant, because I got it from Home Depot or Armstrong's years ago and I don't think they sell exotic varieties. Maybe it isn't even a Cavendish Banana. It taste good its a keeper. :goteam:
robguz24
01-02-2015, 01:29 PM
Goldfinger? It looks a bit like the ones I got from Agri-starts originally. It has a tangy flavor that could be described as lemony, and I've seen them for sale a big box stores in CA. The petioles are not as open as they are on cavendish types I've grown. Male flowers sound similar to the "goldfinger" I have.
Are Goldfinger Banana Plants all green or do they have brown spots or areas on the Pseudostem? I was thinking maybe Goldfinger too, but then I read that the Goldfinger plant is all green.
Thanks Rob, I went to the Banana Wiki and this plant does look similar to a Goldfinger Banana Plant.
PR-Giants
01-02-2015, 04:12 PM
Thanks Rob, I went to the Banana Wiki and this plant does look similar to a Goldfinger Banana Plant.
Susan & Rob, did/does your "Goldfinger" have a hairy peduncle?
venturabananas
01-02-2015, 04:28 PM
Goldfinger? It looks a bit like the ones I got from Agri-starts originally. It has a tangy flavor that could be described as lemony, and I've seen them for sale a big box stores in CA. The petioles are not as open as they are on cavendish types I've grown. Male flowers sound similar to the "goldfinger" I have.
That makes a lot of sense. They do sell Goldfinger at Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. and would explain the tart flavor. The male bud doesn't look quite as "top shaped" as you might expect for Goldfinger, but it's in the right neighborhood. The bunch doesn't look quite right for a Cavendish bunch.
I just went and checked and it looks like it has a hairy peduncle
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57339&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57339)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57338&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57338)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57337&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57337)
robguz24
01-02-2015, 07:21 PM
Are Goldfinger Banana Plants all green or do they have brown spots or areas on the Pseudostem? I was thinking maybe Goldfinger too, but then I read that the Goldfinger plant is all green.
Mine have some brown, not as much as in your pics though, and the peduncle is about as hairy as your pics show.
venturabananas
01-02-2015, 08:39 PM
FHIA-01 can have a lot of black/brown on it. Click to zoom in on Gabe's photo below, as an example.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=32157&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=32157&si=goldfinger&what=allfields&name=Gabe15&name=Gabe15)
PR-Giants
01-04-2016, 09:36 AM
I couldn't tell you which Cavendish cultivar you have, but I agree that it is a Cavendish.
Maybe Gabe will take a look. :)
Nicolas Naranja
01-04-2016, 12:06 PM
I'm leaning more towards the Goldfinger side of things now, that male flower doesn't look like a Cavendish. If you can get a good look at the petiole of the 3rd leaf that will tell us quite a bit.
Gabe15
01-04-2016, 02:05 PM
I agree with 'Goldfinger' 100%. The high shouldered obtuse bud is very distinct. The strongly angled fruit is also not something you'd see in Cavendish. Cavendish are fairly easy to ID from many other potential look-a-likes as they nearly always have a deep red/maroon pseudostem underneath the outer sheaths.
PR-Giants
01-04-2016, 10:03 PM
This looks like a good opportunity for an interesting little project, I'm 100% sure that it's not a 'Goldfinger' and would be willing to send a real 'Goldfinger' so that they can be grown side by side for comparison. This would give Gabe the opportunity to explain how to compare them as they mature.
I agree with 'Goldfinger' 100%. The high shouldered obtuse bud is very distinct. The strongly angled fruit is also not something you'd see in Cavendish. Cavendish are fairly easy to ID from many other potential look-a-likes as they nearly always have a deep red/maroon pseudostem underneath the outer sheaths.
Gabe15
01-05-2016, 07:09 PM
This looks like a good opportunity for an interesting little project, I'm 100% sure that it's not a 'Goldfinger' and would be willing to send a real 'Goldfinger' so that they can be grown side by side for comparison. This would give Gabe the opportunity to explain how to compare them as they mature.
What exactly makes you think it's not 'Goldfinger'?
PR-Giants
01-09-2016, 09:44 AM
Susan has wanted to add a Manini & a real Goldfinger to her collection for a long time and this little project is a good enough reason to go ahead and ship. Even though the two plants that will be compared are very different and easily distinguishably, it can still be a good learning experience for folks to observe the entire process that Gabe uses as he systematically goes through the different descriptors.
What exactly makes you think it's not 'Goldfinger'?
Hi Gabe, the real Goldfinger has a very distinct high shouldered obtuse bud and the banana in this post is certainly not a Goldfinger.
Gabe15
01-09-2016, 03:46 PM
Susan has wanted to add a Manini & a real Goldfinger to her collection for a long time and this little project is a good enough reason to go ahead and ship. Even though the two plants that will be compared are very different and easily distinguishably, it can still be a good learning experience for folks to observe the entire process that Gabe uses as he systematically goes through the different descriptors.
My process is mostly that I've seen a lot of different bananas in different locations and conditions, and have taken a lot of photos I can use for comparison. There are ways to systematically look at the parts, but 95+% of ID'ing something complex like a plant cultivar is just recognizing it because you've seen it before and seen a lot of other similar ones which are not it, so you know what you're looking at.
Hi Gabe, the real Goldfinger has a very distinct high shouldered obtuse bud and the banana in this post is certainly not a Goldfinger.
Ignoring the other compelling evidence for now, let's just look at the general shape of bud as that's what seems to be the hangup at the moment.
Here is the bud on Susan's plant
http://www.bananas.org/attachments/f12/2586d1420162927-does-look-like-williams-banana-plant-williams-00.jpg
Here's some of my photos of 'Goldfinger' buds from various places around the world and in various growing conditions.
https://goo.gl/photos/8xKwK7ZmoNPZV1sB7
To me they are a match. Do you have a 'Goldfinger' plant which is drastically different from these? Keep in mind too that the buds must be compared at roughly the same stage of growth as the shape changes significantly throughout it's cycle, particularly as it is transitioning from female to male flowers.
Thanks everyone for all your help. I have several large plants on that Mat that should bloom this year. When the plant blooms again, I will leave the bud on the plant and take better pictures as it opens. To help with plant identification, what other parts of the plant should I take pictures of?
The Peduncle is hairy.
The leaf stalks look open to me, no red rims.
Very robust plant.
The fruit has a lemony flavor.
I will see if I can find some old pictures of the fruit.
Thanks Susan. :goteam:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57576&size=1[/url[url=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=59272]http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=59272&size=1[/url[url=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=59273]http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=59273&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57576)
PR-Giants
01-09-2016, 07:53 PM
When comparing two buds they should both be at a similar stage of development.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=54141 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=54141)
... let's just look at the general shape of bud as that's what seems to be the hangup at the moment.
To me they are a match.
Keep in mind too that the buds must be compared at roughly the same stage of growth as the shape changes significantly throughout it's cycle, particularly as it is transitioning from female to male flowers.
It seems that you have the general idea correct so the hangup is probably just in processing the information.
Ignoring the other compelling evidence for now, focus on the shape of the bud, it will make things easier.
Here's a Goldfinger growing in Susan's area.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=39059&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=39059&ppuser=7760&sl=v)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=39057&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=39057&ppuser=7760&sl=v)
Susan's bud is in the center with two different Goldfingers, a younger one on the left & an older one on the right.
Do you really think they are all a match?
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=51611 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=51611)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=51156 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=51156)
Gabe15
01-09-2016, 10:58 PM
Susan's bud is in the center with two different Goldfingers, a younger one on the left & an older one on the right.
Do you really think they are all a match?
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=51611 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=51611)
Yes, I do think they are still a match. Susan's is indeed a more elongated in the photo, but that's about the only difference. We know the bud changes shape as it grows, and at some point early on it is more elongated and then later becomes more squat. There can always be some variation of shape or speed of development depending on the environment, and not just general area climate, but specific growing conditions. They are a little different, but are well within the ballpark of each other relative to a totally different cultivar. Unfortunately we don't have photos of Susan's plant's bud as it developed right now, but we will later.
This is a sequence from a 100% guaranteed 'Goldfinger' I grew showing the changes of the bud over an 18 day period. You can see how the bud starts out much more elongated.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=59275&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=59275&ppuser=5)
PR-Giants
01-10-2016, 09:41 AM
Identification and characterization guide for FHIA banana and plantain hybrids (http://www.musalit.org/seeMore.php?id=11677)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57146&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57146)
Yes, I do think they are still a match.
This photo shows two 100% guaranteed 'Goldfingers', with Susan's bud in the center and Gabe's bud is to the right.
We know the bud changes shape as it grows, and at some point early on it is more elongated and then later becomes more squat.
Now with taking that into account, you would expect the two younger buds to be more elongated and the center bud to be more squat, but what you see is the complete opposite.
FHIA-01 | Information and news on bananas from ProMusa (http://www.promusa.org/tiki-index.php?page=FHIA-01)
"The male bud is short and heart-shaped with distinctive wide shoulders ..."
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=51661 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=51661)
:2216: :) :2204:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=50497 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=50497)
Mark Dragt
01-10-2016, 04:57 PM
The suspense is killing me! I hope it will last.
:woohoonaner:
PR-Giants
01-10-2016, 06:17 PM
Mark, if the suspense is making you hungry... I can send you some of these buds
:lurk: they taste like goldfinger :08:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=51850&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=51850)
Mark, if the suspense is making you hungry... I can send you some of these buds
:lurk: they taste like goldfinger :08:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=51850&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=51850)
What is it?
Keith, I found this picture of your FHIA-3 in your gallery. I think it is the same bud, but I'm not 100% sure. Do you think it could be a FHIA-3? The only thing about the FHIA-3 is the Messy Rachis. The Bracts fell off my plant.
My bud and the FHIA-1 do look different, but I didn't leave my bud on long enough to see what it looks like when the banana are ripe.
Maybe my plant is a FHIA-2. The picture of the FHIA-2 in the Musa Accessions Catalog, that Gabe posted, looks like my unknown bud too.
Thanks Gabe and Keith for all your help with this plant. I think I got this plant from Home Depot or Armstrong Garden Centers in Long Beach. It was one of the first banana plants I purchased.
I purchased the rest of my plants from "Florida Hills and Aloha Tropicals, so I will have a lot of banana plants to identify later.
I still have my unknown Plant (cleaned up the old mat) and next time it blooms I know what pictures would be helpful for identification.
Remember if you want to Identify your plant its helpful if you leave the bud on until you harvest the bunch.
Maybe my plant is just a FHIA-Mutant or maybe just a Mutant!!!
Thanks Susan
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57087&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57087)
Mark Dragt
01-10-2016, 06:36 PM
Mark, if the suspense is making you hungry... I can send you some of these buds
:lurk: they taste like goldfinger :08:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=51850&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=51850)
I would take you up on the offer if there were corms in the same box.
This thread has been so interesting from the very start. It looks like it will come down to the tiny details to get the positive ID. Can't waite to see how it turns out.
Gabe15
01-12-2016, 02:52 PM
Well I guess we're just gonna have to wait for some updated photos later on!
Susan, your comment about the "lemony" flavored is intriguing. My most distinct memory of FHIA-03 was making juice from it and noting it tasted remarkably like lemonade.
When eating your fruits plain raw/ripe, does the pulp seem a bit "fluffy"/low-density and a little on the drier-side compared with other bananas, or is it of a more typical density, and maybe even a little juicy?
Well I guess we're just gonna have to wait for some updated photos later on!
Susan, your comment about the "lemony" flavored is intriguing. My most distinct memory of FHIA-03 was making juice from it and noting it tasted remarkably like lemonade.
When eating your fruits plain raw/ripe, does the pulp seem a bit "fluffy"/low-density and a little on the drier-side compared with other bananas, or is it of a more typical density, and maybe even a little juicy?
I really can't remember about the pulp, but it definitely had the lemony flavor. I wish it was blooming now, so I can answer your question sooner.
Thanks again :goteam::goteam:
Nicolas Naranja
01-14-2016, 10:10 PM
I just harvested a Goldfinger and an SH-3640. Goldfinger had a hairless peduncle and SH-3640 had a hairy peduncle. That SH-3640 produces such pretty fruit.
Hi everyone I have been trying to ID this banana plant that I planted in my yard in the late 90's. I have been looking at pictures of banana trees and buds and I think it could be a Williams Banana plant. What do you guys think? Susan
Okay my plant is blooming again. We know it isn't a Williams Banana. I have tried to load pictures but nothing will load. Finally something!
Hi everyone I have been trying to ID this banana plant that I planted in my yard in the late 90's. I have been looking at pictures of banana trees and buds and I think it could be a Williams Banana plant. What do you guys think? Susan
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=59836&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=59836)
vBulletin® v3.6.8, Copyright ©2000-2020, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.