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Wandering
10-11-2017, 10:17 AM
I have some pictures of a banana growing near me that I would love some help to identify:

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62465&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62465)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62463&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62463)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62464&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62464)

Thank you :)

Gabe15
10-11-2017, 12:06 PM
Where are you located? Can you post some photos that are not so close up? Show us one of the entire bunch, and one of the entire plant. If the male bud with flowers is still attached below the bunch, get a photo of that too.

sputinc7
10-11-2017, 01:39 PM
Looks like the Perth Australia area.

Tytaylor77
10-11-2017, 09:07 PM
I’ve never had a Musa Saba bunch but it looks a lot like Saba to me. How big is the plant? Saba are big plants! Get some more pictures so hopefully Gabe can confirm!

Wandering
10-12-2017, 06:41 AM
Thank you so much for your willingness to help
Yes I am in Perth Australia :)

Other photos for you :) All the photos in my gallery are of this banana - just 2 different plants of the same variety. I am going to have trouble with one of the whole plant from a distance as mine is tucked up the back of my garden.

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62339&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62339)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62340&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62340)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62338 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62337)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62337&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62337)

Banana as a young plant:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=61825&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=61825)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=61822&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=61822)

Flag leaf:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=61824&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=61824)

Pup:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=61823&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=61823)

sputinc7
10-12-2017, 08:18 AM
Before anyone else can ruin it for me I will make an educated guess although I am much less educated than many here on bananas... My guess is Dwarf Namwah. Why? The coloration and growth pattern of the plant, particularly when younger as well as the size and shape of the fruits and that I hear Namwah is common in Australia. I don't have a Dwarf Namwah myself, but they look like Namwah only the stem part of the fingers in my Namwah is pinkish (mauve according to my wife) and yours are not. Maybe that is a difference between dwarf and regular Namwah...

OK Gabe, Ty, etc... how did I do?
.

Wandering
10-12-2017, 09:59 AM
Some more pictures for you all:

The banana in winter - the closest I have for a picture from a distance:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62469&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62469)

Flag Leaf:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62467&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62467)

My bunch from a distance (smaller than the one in the first photos):
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62466&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62466)

For comparison: Dwarf Ducasse at the front (Dwarf Namwah from what I know - it is slower growing), and the unknown one at the back up against the fence:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62468&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62468)

sputinc7
10-12-2017, 10:33 AM
Well, it's not a dwarf anything...

Wandering
10-12-2017, 11:23 AM
Mine fruited at a stem height of 3.2m (10 1/2 ft), and the other one I know of the same type was 4m (13ft) at fruiting height.

Gabe15
10-12-2017, 12:44 PM
It is definitely not any type of Namwah/Ducasse.

It appears to be a Blue Java/Ice Cream type variant. The lightly variegated fruit is certainly not common, but it's not that distinctive of a trait, and can come and go in some cases, however that along with the somewhat less waxy fruit than is typical could indicate it is a slightly different clone than the common one, or it could just be environmental influences on the waxiness combined with a random occurrence of the fruit variegation. Is variegated fruit a persistent trait that is always present?

Wandering
10-13-2017, 06:44 AM
Thank you Gabe for your help :)

This is the first year either of our plants have flowered so I am not sure if the variagation/striping is a regular thing or not.

Interesting to me is that you mention a blue java/icecream variant as an ID as that is what I bought it as as a pup a few years ago. What puzzled me was the lack of waxiness/blue colour that I see in other photos of blue java and so I started to question what it might be.

Also in my garden I have tissue culture blue java which has just started to flower a few weeks ago. These bananas on the tissue culture blue java (which in australia is meant to be the real deal - we bought them fairly direct to an official source) have more waxiness on them at even a young age - time will tell whether they all taste the same in the end as I have never tried a real blue java or seen one! :)

Wandering
10-22-2017, 09:25 PM
Just to complete the story for this banana, I have some pictures of the fruit peeled and cut open:

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62550&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62550)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62551&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62551)

It does look similar in appearance to pictures I have seen of blue java. I am not that impressed with the taste... it has a fluffy texture, but a very mild flavour.