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View Full Version : E. 'Maurelii' versus E. 'Montbeliardii'


aruzinsky
01-21-2018, 12:15 PM
Here is a photo of Montbeliardii that I took circa 1974 at Longwood Gardens, PA:
http://www.general-cathexis.com/images/Montbellardii2.jpg
The man is my father. Does this photo look familiar to you?

Here is a photo of Maurelii that I grew in 2005:
http://www.general-cathexis.com/images/Maurelli.jpg

Lately, I have been seeing a lot of Ensetes that look intermediate between Maurelli and Montbeliardii:

Here is an Ensete at Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago, IL in 2003:
http://www.general-cathexis.com/images/EnseteGarfieldParkConservatory.jpg

Compare with Ensetes here:
https://www.houzz.com/discussions/3395066/northern-utah-tropics-large-ensete-bananas-etc#n=18

I suspect that these intermediates might be seedlings of Maurelii.

Incidentally, Maurelii can be propagated by decapitating just below the meristem. The cut surface develops callus tissue that looks like cauliflower and then dozens of plantlets grow out of the cut surface. It is risky but I successfully did it once.

pjkfarm
07-17-2019, 08:29 PM
Where does one get seeds from maurelli (or Montbeliardii )? We have a maurelli which looks just like the picture in the middle, but not like what some we have seen - so the cross looks like a good theory.

aruzinsky
07-18-2019, 08:19 AM
Where does one get seeds from maurelli (or Montbeliardii )? We have a maurelli which looks just like the picture in the middle, but not like what some we have seen - so the cross looks like a good theory.

Just to be clear, I don't think that the intermediates are crosses between maurelli and mantbeliardi. I suspect that they are self-crosses of Maurelli because Maurelli is relatively common.

Just buy a Maurelli, bloom it, and harvest the seeds. It seems likely that many people have done that.

pjkfarm
07-18-2019, 12:01 PM
Thanks for the clarification - I thought they were true crosses between the two. We look forward to our seeds (and size - not too many people I would think have room for them to flower - though if the growth regulator actually works one of the banana people mentioned, this could save lots of trouble and open up the doors for many more people to get fruiting plants.