sirdoofus

I found this guy on clearance at our local Canadian Tire and of course I had to bring it home. It doesn't look like anything I have seen around here before. Only labeled as 'banana'. Usually bananas this size there are basjoo, and they are labeled 'hardy banana,' but this definitely is not a basjoo.

I know positive ID is highly unlikely at this stage, but I am curious if anyone has a guess? I have an idea I won't share at this point because I am probably wrong and I don't want to bias anyone.

Of note: no markings in the leaf blades, lots of pink on open petioles, black splotches on the upper part of the p-stem, darker red color on lower p-stem, leaves are relatively slender, but not overly so with red midribs.

If the proverbial gun was to your head........

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Who keeps calling me nuts??

Reminosys

Hard to guess at the vegetative stage like you said, but worth trying for practice. Keep in mind I'm not a professional, nor at the level of experience of senior members, but I will provide my rationale for others to check.

1. It's in Canada sold at a big box store, which means it probably came from a wholesaler. Therefore probably not an "exotic" cultivar or a wild species.

2. The petiolar canal is U shaped, and from my understanding the shape is a relatively stable trait when the plant isn't flowering or very small. Therefore can rule out pure acuminata (flared) or balbisiana (closed). So it's probably in Pome, Silk, or Mysore subgroup.

3. Absence/intensity of blotching and pigmentation isn't particularly reliable, because they can vary based on growing conditions. Sometimes artificial or filtered lighting doesn't bring out all the colors that a cultivar is capable of producing. Nutrient deficiency has also been noted to mess with pigment intensity. Pigmentation presence can be used to rule out some options, but not useful in narrowing it down further for this one.

Recap: it probably belongs to one of three subgroups: Pome, Silk, or Mysore.