Musaceae taxonomy
 

Just had this new taxonomic research sent to me today. I haven't read the paper in its entirety, but I think it reflects some of the latest efforts to classify Musaceae.

http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/front/medi...95_a08n1a7.pdf

Re: Musaceae taxonomy
 

Markku Hakkinen is a well-respected researcher of species bananas. An article on his recent jaunt to Borneo appears in the Sept./Oct. 2007 issue of the CRFG Fruit Gardener. Also published a few years back is a picture of bananas growing alongside his picture window in the living room of his waterfront home in Helsinki.

Re: Musaceae taxonomy
 

Thinking about this subject more, wouldn't it be useful to add a photographic taxonomic key in Wiki? We should assemble photos of banana leaves - good clear images of the whole leaf, close-up views of the leaf base, petiole and p. stem, along with developing and mature fruit. This would assist all members in identifying their bananas.

I will volunteer to assemble the pics, so send them to me or attach them to this thread. Once we get it together, I will send it to Jarred to post in the Wiki.

Be sure that what you submit is labeled correctly. I would like to categorize them with a sort feature to ease the identification process. I welcome any input in this regard. i.e. Leaf-bases, lobed or attached, etc.....midrib color....
By using these sorting features, it should greatly reduce the time spent looking for your banana and identifying it.

Re: Musaceae taxonomy
 

Great Idea Scot, I was thinking about this a few days ago that we need something that has correct pictures of leaves and p-stems to help verify or rule out variety of bananas when we try to ID our mystery bananas!

Re: Musaceae taxonomy
 

I think that's a great ideal too. I have not used the Wiki feature that much before. However, that would make it more user friendly. :bananas_b