View Full Version : Banana in Boston Commons
Veroni
07-01-2008, 11:18 AM
This banana stands in the Boston Commons park. Photo taken about one week ago. What species is it?
http://fnord.terror.de/images/plantz/banana_in_boston_commons_july_2008.jpg
Taylor
07-01-2008, 11:19 AM
That's 'Ensete Maurelli'.
Veroni
07-01-2008, 11:23 AM
It's beautiful... are these difficult to raise? Only had success with sikkimensis so far... failed (or still waiting) on balbisiana. ... I'm a banana noob. ^.^
Taylor
07-01-2008, 11:28 AM
You have to grow them from seed or Tissue Culture...otherwise not difficult at all. Not even a 'banana', just a relative. (Right?)
I got mine from Sandy (NorthernTropics.com) but I'm not sure if she ships internationally.
Gabe15
07-01-2008, 11:37 AM
The species is Ensete ventricosum, the variety name is 'Maurelii'. They are a banana, in the banana family, just in a different genus. This red form can really only be grown from tissue cultured plants as seeds seem to not stay true to type. There a few different color forms of this species commonly available and the seeds are fairy easy to germinate.
Veroni
07-01-2008, 11:45 AM
Thanks for info, both of you.
If the reds can only be grown from tissue cultures, where did they get the first one from? Did it just mutate?
Gabe15
07-01-2008, 11:48 AM
Thanks for info, both of you.
If the reds can only be grown from tissue cultures, where did they get the first one from? Did it just mutate?
The species has a lot of natural variation, every once in a while a seedling will be different (but normally they are mostly green with some red bits on the petioles). So once they found a couple of red seedlings they tissue culture them and so you can grow them, but if they produce seed they make green plants since thats the normal color of the species and I guess the red coloring is not a very passable trait.
dablo93
07-01-2008, 12:09 PM
Veroni, with some luck you can buy them at a big gardencentre and i think you can also buy them on a german site on internet ?
Veroni
07-01-2008, 12:21 PM
Oh wow. That's awesome. I envy you as you live in Honululu. You could just plant thousands of them and see which colors they form :)
Veroni
07-01-2008, 12:50 PM
I'll be on the lookout. ^.^
Veroni
07-01-2008, 01:02 PM
It's 30 Euros for a red one...
Ensete ventricosum Maurellii,Rote Zierbanane,Pflanzen und Samen Versand Röpke Pflanzenversand Hans- Günter Röpke (http://www.pflanzenkindergarten.de/product_info.php?products_id=5041&osCsid=3df6b61074593f0db04a4b03770f63f5)
Seeds are cheaper... What's the percentage that sprouts colored? :)
Dean W.
07-01-2008, 01:13 PM
Good luck trying to get a red one, Veroni. I guess 30 Euros is more than you want to pay? LOL!!!
I saw some nice bananas today at a Nursery and they wanted $30 each for them. They must have been about 15-20 ft tall. I was tempted to buy one, but they didn't know what kind they were. He said, they just make the small fruits. :04:
Tropicallvr
07-02-2008, 02:21 PM
It's 30 Euros for a red one...
Ensete ventricosum Maurellii,Rote Zierbanane,Pflanzen und Samen Versand Röpke Pflanzenversand Hans- Günter Röpke (http://www.pflanzenkindergarten.de/product_info.php?products_id=5041&osCsid=3df6b61074593f0db04a4b03770f63f5)
Seeds are cheaper... What's the percentage that sprouts colored? :)
You're more likely to get one with varigated white/green leafs than one that looks like Maurelli. I've sprouted over 100, and they are all green, with a red midrib, but maybe if you sprouted a few thousand you might get some different ones.
chong
07-02-2008, 04:04 PM
The species is Ensete ventricosum, the variety name is 'Maurelii'. They are a banana, in the banana family, just in a different genus. This red form can really only be grown from tissue cultured plants as seeds seem to not stay true to type. There a few different color forms of this species commonly available and the seeds are fairy easy to germinate.
This is really funny. Agristarts is selling Ensete Ventricosum and Ensete Maurelii separately. The E. Maurelii is in stock(2088 available), and the E. Ventricosum is not.
Veroni
07-02-2008, 07:15 PM
Hm, probably there's more demand for the red one, so they culture them...?
chong
07-03-2008, 01:07 PM
Hm, probably there's more demand for the red one, so they culture them...?
My point was that, according to Gabe, they are one and the same plant.
sandy0225
07-03-2008, 04:47 PM
Agristarts produces everything in cycles. So they're just not producing those now. It's a good way to keep demand up for particular plants.
Like things going into the "disney vault"...LOL
dablo93
07-04-2008, 02:11 AM
here at a local gardencentre small maureliis (50 cm) were only 8 euros, at another gardencentre you can buy one, 2 metres high for 20 euros.
succes with finding one in your area!
Gabe15
07-04-2008, 10:30 AM
My point was that, according to Gabe, they are one and the same plant.
Well, no, I didn't say quite that. Botanically, they are the same species, but in the horticulture trade they are different varieties. They are just two different color forms of the same plant, they are different in their pigmentation, but no different in their morphology. So they are different, just not different enough to separate into two distinct species.
chong
07-04-2008, 01:28 PM
Well, no, I didn't say quite that. Botanically, they are the same species, but in the horticulture trade they are different varieties. They are just two different color forms of the same plant, they are different in their pigmentation, but no different in their morphology. So they are different, just not different enough to separate into two distinct species.
I really have to be more precise in what I say here. The reason I thought it was funny was that, as they listed it, it would suggest that the Maurelii was not a Ventricosum. But I realize now that it was listed that way in order to minimize the length of the listing (as is done with other plants as well), and expected that whoever orders the material would know what they were ordering.
Okay, it's not funny.
microfarmer
07-05-2008, 12:28 PM
I really have to be more precise in what I say here. (snip) Okay, it's not funny.
Now that's funny :ha::ha::ha:
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