Lodewijkp

hi

i am wondering, what is the most rare or weird species banana ?

i have seen balbisiana giganta seeds at a store , what is the difference between the normal one and this one ?

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Gabe15

The most rare wild banana species are the ones you will likely never see sold. There are some on Borneo which are very rare and known only to live in very small populations. Most notable to me are Musa azizii and Musa bauensis which each have only been found in single, rather small, populations. Personally, one of my favorite wild banana species is Musa lawitiensis which has been described to be more like a Heliconia than any other Musa. There are also many other interesting species from Borneo such as M. voonii, M. borneensis, M. barioensis, M. monticola (very interesting species) and M. campestris to name a few.

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bigdog

While perhaps not the most rare, Musa ingens has to be one of the most unusual Musa species. It grows 60 ft. tall!

Musa balbisiana 'Gigantea' is supposedly a more "robust" form of the species, and it holds on to the male bracts on the rachis. That's the only differences I'm aware of.

Panaroma

Rare species will hatch and grow in rather specific conditions.... so mostly thats why they are "rare" ;-(
Balbisiana on the other hand is easy; they do just fine at fluctuating temps (10 hours 25-30*C and 14 hours 10-15*C).

Succes

natedogg1026

What about the pregnant banana or whatever it's called? Not sure if its a true variety or just a freak thing that happens, Gabe'll know. I think I remember a post on it a while back.??

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Gabe15

Mai'a Hapai (Pregnant Banana) is a very real variety, and I posted pictures of it from Kaua'i earlier I think. Though a somewhat rare edible variety, it is not a species anyways.

Most M. balbisiana varieties hold onto their bracts for some time, but there are definitely some that drop the bracts. I'm not sure if it's more of a "nature" trait or more of a "nurture" trait, but I've seen it often present in varying degrees on many different forms of the species.

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bigdog

I've seen some Musa balbisiana hold onto several old bracts at a time, but most that I've seen (and you have probably seen more!) have had a relatively clean rachis. According to Cheesman:

"bracts usually soon deciduous after flowering but occasionally persistent in a withered condition, especially in the later stages of blooming."

This new variety holds onto all of its bracts on the rachis, even in the earlier stages of blooming. I just hope I get to see mine bloom someday!

bikoro child

do you know those two bananas growing in Philippines: pilipita and paguha ?they are wild varieties with seeds...

bikoro child

about these varieties i found an article on the web which have some interest:
Going Bananas on Siargao Island

Gabe15

The 'Paguha' appears to be Musa balbisiana and the 'Pelipita' is an edible variety also available here in the US, it tends to form seeds if pollen is present but otherwise it is a seedless edible banana.

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bikoro child

So is it possible to control this fact and obtain a propagation of this variety in one case and to produce seedless edible bananas in the other case?

Dean W.

Interesting, I'm glad to have learned something by reading this thread. Rare bananas are hard to come by, huh?

Dean

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porkpi

The Island is Borneo, the Indonesian part is Kalamantan. I travelled that area a few years back. Saw Durians, Bananas, Orangutans and Headhunters.


Very Interesting!!

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