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simon_c
04-02-2008, 04:19 AM
Does anyone here ever thought about which species of banana is the smallest in terms of the following:

1. Mature Height
2. Fruit size

I personally don't have a clue where to start. Anyone have any ideas?

mrbungalow
04-02-2008, 05:04 AM
Probably Musa Velutina, but even this one seems to come in several forms as some are pretty tall while others stay small.

Musa Coccinea is also pretty small.

You also have Musa Laterita, Musa mannii, etc.

mskitty38583
04-02-2008, 07:13 AM
there is also the lil prince.

Mark Hall
04-02-2008, 07:19 AM
And the Super Dwarf.

sandy0225
04-02-2008, 07:57 AM
probably little prince or the mini sdc that I have for sale right now....

mike
04-02-2008, 09:44 AM
Has anyone ever seen the little prince flower ? If not I will say SD Cavendish but what do I know.

:colorwoot:

Tropicallvr
04-02-2008, 10:23 AM
Nature products claims this manni X veluntina hybrid is the smallest, but the super dwarf seems smaller.
Superdwarf banana Musa x assamica, a small banana for home and window space (http://www.natureproducts.net/Forest_Products/Bananas/Own_varieties/Musa_asamica.html)

dablo93
04-02-2008, 11:30 AM
How large can a Little Prince get? not more than 40 cm?

MediaHound
04-02-2008, 11:56 AM
There's also Truly Tiny

Gabe15
04-02-2008, 01:20 PM
Are you looking for info on edible bananas or wild bananas? Only wild banana are species, the

ʻLittle Princeʻ is the smallest I have ever seen, my 3 year old plant topped out at about 1.5ft total (with leaves). ʻSuper Dwarfʻ is the smallest you will get fruit from.

I have a small ornamental hybrid which only gets about 1.5-2ft tall. As for the smallest natural wild species, Musa mannii and M. azizii are both about 3-4ft tall, M. azizii is also incredibly slender and the plants look more like a Heliconia than a normal Musa.

For fruit, in edibles the smallest common one is probably ʻThousand Fingersʻ, though many of the ʻSucrierʻ types like ʻRoseʻ and ʻNinoʻ are also rather small. The smallest wild fruit probably belongs to M. lawitiensis, which is no bigger than a pinky finger when mature.

sandy0225
04-02-2008, 02:32 PM
OK. Got the word from my supplier, the mini tops out at 3' of pseudostem. Supposedly it will fruit, but very small fruits, so not really good for eating, unless you like your bananas bite sized. Don't know if that's absolutely the smallest one available, though. Pretty small though!

simon_c
04-03-2008, 08:19 AM
Thank you all for all the answers. I got more than I bargained for in terms of the replies.

mskitty38583
04-03-2008, 09:05 AM
my lil prince that i have is 6 inches tall. that is from the dirt line up. but i would say that it could get to be a foot tall to one and a half feet tall. we have some pics in the wiki of the lil prince. the pics were by other members here. i think it is one of the most adorable trees in the musa family.

notrecruiting
01-22-2011, 10:26 PM
my balcony is 9ft tall....what would be the best edible that I could put in a container out there?