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View Full Version : Musa 'Aiuri', fe'i banana


Gabe15
05-14-2009, 01:26 AM
Please do not contact me about acquiring any of these plants.

This stand is along the Kalawahine trail on Tantalus in Honolulu. The trail can be accessed from the Makiki Nature Center. I'm pretty sure the variety is 'Aiuri', I'm not 100% sure but know some people who are and will try to get a confirmation later on. Not much in the way of fruit on this trip, but got some suckers to try out at the farm.

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=17343&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=17343&ppuser=5)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=17344&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=17344&ppuser=5)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=17345&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=17345&ppuser=5)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=17348&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=17348&ppuser=5)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=17346&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=17346&ppuser=5)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=17347&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=17347&ppuser=5)

Bananaman88
05-14-2009, 06:14 AM
Thanks for sharing the pics, Gabe. I really like the upright, slender leaves.

damaclese
05-14-2009, 07:17 AM
thanks Gabe I'm just fascinated by Fi Bananas that red sap is just cool and there over all heat tolerance makes them and ideal experiment with my desert growing project by the way when i publish my findings i think you are going to be surprised at the variates that are doing not just OK but thriving in the high heat and low humidity hear in Vegas thank you for taking the time to get those pictures all that hiking must be pretty hard heheheh Keep up the important work you are doing
Thanks Paul

Caloosamusa
05-14-2009, 08:46 AM
Thank you for sharing Gabe, it is greatly appreciated!! :2239:

momoese
05-14-2009, 09:40 AM
Cool!!

Send me a pup please! :ha:

harveyc
05-14-2009, 10:35 AM
Thanks, Gabe.

Mitchel, put me on your list for pups in 2 years, please! :ha:

Rmplmnz
05-18-2009, 08:13 AM
Awesome Gabe!!

MediaHound
08-02-2009, 12:06 PM
Awesome find Gabe

Taylor
08-02-2009, 12:12 PM
Never seen a banana that "bleeds".

Cool!

Caloosamusa
08-09-2009, 07:57 PM
A Banana that brings a smile to my face by just the mention of it's name! Thanks again for sharing Gabe!!! :2239:

Rmplmnz
08-09-2009, 08:03 PM
Thanks for sharing the pics, Gabe. I really like the upright, slender leaves.

You should grow Pisang Jari Buaya...the fruit is entirely different..but it does have the slender upright leaves...

Lagniappe
08-09-2009, 08:05 PM
You should grow Pisang Jari Buaya...the fruit is entirely different..but it does have the slender upright leaves...

Do you have pics?
Wait, Gabe's growin it too, I think. Do either of you have pics of the leaves?

Rmplmnz
01-03-2010, 12:33 AM
Fei is an amazing plant. Check out Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods in Samoa.

The five minute mark he is in a market in Samoa holding a hand of Fei

YouTube - Bizarre Foods SAMOA 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW7BnyuTkMc)

harveyc
01-03-2010, 02:40 AM
Thanks, Chris! I must say, the rest of the family didn't enjoy that vid as much as I did, though my son Michael did laugh at the snot comment. :ha:

momoese
01-03-2010, 11:00 AM
More fei in French Polynesia on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. He didn't sample any but I noticed them sitting there as he walked by.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m161/momoese/fei.jpg

jeffreyp
01-03-2010, 11:25 AM
Where can you buy fei corms? Anyone?

Rmplmnz
01-03-2010, 11:53 AM
More fei in French Polynesia on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. He didn't sample any but I noticed them sitting there as he walked by.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m161/momoese/fei.jpg

Too funny..same price (500 CFP) as when were in French Polynesia (Tahiti & Moorea).

Municipal Market Papeete Tahiti
French Polynesia
June 2009

Papeete Market - Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Papeete+Market&sll=-17.539153,-149.566798&sspn=0.015304,0.027874&ie=UTF8&hq=Market&hnear=Papeete,+French+Polynesia&ll=-17.539327,-149.569234&spn=0.007652,0.013937&z=17&iwloc=A&cid=2028669276840773559)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=28515&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=28515)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=28515&cat=1548

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=28516&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=28516)

Champion Super Market
Moorea
French Polynesia
June 2009

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=28514&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=28514)

Road Side Stand Moorea
French Polynesia
June 2009

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=28518&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=28518)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=28517&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=28517)

Rmplmnz
01-03-2010, 12:53 PM
Where can you buy fei corms? Anyone?

Not easy..these two quotes say it all:

fe'i bananas are a group of cooking bananas belonging to the subgenera Australimusa (as opposed to Eumusa as is the case with other edible bananas) and evolved completely separate from the bananas we are most familiar with. They were once an important food, but have been replaced by other crops and are harder to come by these days, the plants are virtually unknown in the horticulture trade and rare to see even in botanic gardens. They generally have erect bunches and fruits with a bright orange pulp.

http://www.bananas.org/f2/fei-bananas-manoa-valley-4382.html#post35788

Fei are a type of banana that grow in and around Polynesia the are well adapted to that climate able to withstand the severe heat and long dry spells that some times plague many inlands when you cut them they bleed red sap its vary pretty but staining the fruit is Orange in color just about all us want a plant i think they would do well here in NV but there vary hard to come by no on seems to be abal to get them

heres a link to a nice discution on fei
http://www.bananas.org/f2/musa-aiuri-fei-banana-7965.html

Last person I know of that grew them in the continental US was Bill Lessard (former owner of Going Bananas Homestead, FL and author of "The Complete Book of Bananas")....

http://www.bananas.org/f2/french-polynesia-8724-2.html#post87904

Rmplmnz
01-04-2010, 10:58 PM
A few more videos.
Boiling and mashing Fei.
Moorea, French Polynesia
June 2009
Where we stayed..
Hotel Hibiscus - Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&view=map&q=hotel+hibiscus+French+Polynesia&sll=-17.501196,-149.91172&sspn=0.030615,0.055747&ie=UTF8&hq=hotel+hibiscus+French+Polynesia&hnear=&ll=-17.500705,-149.911709&spn=0.029592,0.055747&z=15&iwloc=A&cid=11464340539097589380)


Ripe Fei
YouTube - Fei Peeling 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSyAKbTd4D8)

This one is not quite as ripe
YouTube - Fei Peeling 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCHxZyHR_K8)



New Avatar
Tahitian Tattoo Artist on Moorea, French Polynesia (http://www.mooreatattoo.com/)

Rmplmnz
01-05-2010, 11:22 PM
The rest of the videos.....

YouTube - Fei Mashing 1.MOV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EruCOgRVmJw)

YouTube - Fei Mashing 2.MOV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZxwu4KF9a0)

YouTube - Fei Mashing 3.MOV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXAPjYZ_EaE)

YouTube - Fei Mashing 4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWoruVAS04w)

Rmplmnz
01-06-2010, 01:34 AM
Do you have pics?
Wait, Gabe's growin it too, I think. Do either of you have pics of the leaves?

http://www.bananas.org/f2/pisang-jari-buaya-10255.html#post107189

Rmplmnz
10-25-2010, 08:52 PM
Efforts underway to rescue vulnerable bananas, giant swamp taro, other Pacific Island crops
Submitted by editor on October 24, 2010 - 10:33

Through this project we will bring together 1,000 unique samples of Pacific crops for long-term conservation, said Dr. Mary Taylor, Manager of the Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT) at the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC). Crop collections in the Pacific are very vulnerable; all they need is a disease outbreak or a cyclone to destroy the entire collection. These collections are essential if we are going to maintain traditional Pacific crops for future generations.

For example, only a few of the varieties of the orange- and yellow-fleshed Fei banana, famously painted by former Pacific island resident Gauguin, are still found in farmers fields. Studies by Dr. Lois Englberger from the Island Food Community of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia have shown that these bananas are an excellent source of beta-carotene, essential for the production of vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency—causing blindness, greatly weakened immune systems and even death in infants—is now common in parts of the Pacific. Good beta-carotene levels in the diet also help protect against non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease that are now at epidemic rates throughout the Pacific Islands.

The Pacific region is made up of 22 countries and territories with a relatively small population spread out amongst approximately 7,500 islands covering 30 million square kilometers—nearly twice the size of Russia. There is little maize, wheat, or rice grown in the region. Instead, farmers have cultivated many varieties of root crops and starchy fruits as their staple foods, such as taro, yam, sweet potato, breadfruit and cooking banana, along with coconut, that have been selected over the centuries for their suitability to island environments. Pacific island crop diversity is especially hard to save because most of the crops do not produce seed. Preserving them requires saving a part of the plant itself. In some parts of the region, national agriculture programs have set up field collections to conserve indigenous varieties. But the collections are constantly threatened by plant disease, harsh weather, and poor land management.

These unique crop varieties are so important in the Pacific, said Cary Fowler, Executive Director of the Global Drop Diversity Trust. In addition to having valuable nutritional traits, they will provide the key to developing crops in the future that can potentially deal with harsh island environments. It is essential that they are well conserved.

A recent Pacific Food Summit stressed the need to turn back to local foods to address diet-related health issues that are linked to a movement away from traditional staples. Today, life expectancy in some Pacific islands is actually decreasing because of diet-related illnesses. Diabetes rates are among the highest in the world, reaching up to 44 percent in Tokelau atolls, compared to around 8 percent in the United States.

The project to conserve some of this indigenous food diversity in the Pacific is being coordinated by the SPC CePaCT as part of a broader effort involving major crop species worldwide. The Trust, with support from the UN Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is helping partners in 68 countries rescue and regenerate more than 80,000 endangered accessions in crop collections and send duplicates to international genebanks and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the Arctic Circle.

The assistance from the Trust will allow CePaCT to provide a safe home for crop varieties that may be in danger. CePaCT is partnering with public institutes in French Polynesia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The partners, with support from the Trust, are replanting or gathering crop varieties unique to their islands, documenting their characteristics and sending duplicate plants for safekeeping to the laboratory at CePaCT.

The Fei Banana, the Niu Coconut, and Giant Swamp Taro
Once highly abundant as an everyday staple in the islands of French Polynesia, the Fei banana fell into disuse as populations shifted and cultural changes took place. Fortunately, in 2008 and 2009, Maurice Wong, an energetic genebank curator based in Tahiti, collected more than 100 samples of the bananas from isolated farms on six islands in French Polynesia. The samples will be conserved in a field collection with duplicates sent to CePaCT.

The Niu Afa coconut variety has also been rescued from a location that is now home to a penal colony. This rare coconut variety is recognized for producing the largest known coconuts. Farmers now rarely cultivate it since hybrid coconuts have become more common. The embryos from the seed of the Niu Afa coconuts have been extracted and taken to CePaCT to be cultured in the laboratory. Eventually, they will regenerate into whole plants to be planted back out in the field in multiple sites.

Another unique crop targeted for conservation is the giant swamp taro, a resilient crop that can survive harsh atoll conditions including sandy saline soils, and once planted can be neglected for several years until needed. This is the main crop of atoll islands and a major food crop elsewhere, also serving as a famine food; when other crops have failed, the edible underground stems of the swamp taro are dug up and can provide ample food for a village for several weeks or months.

At CePaCT, Taylor and her colleagues save the plants in small glass tubes and, to add extra security, are working with the Trust to test state-of-the-art cryoconservation methods. Cryoconservation allows researchers to freeze plant materials at ultra low temperatures and safely store them for decades.

Bringing these crop varieties into safe conservation is only the beginning of the story. Increasingly strong community movements that support local foods and encourage the cultivation of local crops are tapping into this diversity. Activists like Lois Englberger are encouraging people to Go Local. We have imported a lot of health problems to the Pacific, but by preserving and rediscovering our Fei banana and taro, we literally have a homegrown solution.

The Global Crop Diversity Trust (www.croptrust.org)
The mission of the Trust is to ensure the conservation and availability of crop diversity for food security worldwide. Although crop diversity is fundamental to fighting hunger and to the very future of agriculture, funding is unreliable and diversity is being lost. The Trust is the only organization working worldwide to solve this problem. The Trust is providing support for the ongoing operations of the seed vault, as well as organizing and funding the preparation and shipment of seeds from developing countries to the facility.

Efforts underway to rescue vulnerable bananas, giant swamp taro, other Pacific Island crops | webnewswire.com (http://www.webnewswire.com/node/607569)

Tytaylor77
04-17-2018, 08:22 PM
Bump! On the first page is the color of the sap! More of a pinkish purple! Wow I had no clue they got that tall! Amazing!