PhilMarkey

I hope you find this story interesting.

Trebrown Nurseries Blog Blog Archive Musa balbisiana var. liukiuensis

Regards,
Phil

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I'm the seed dealer at www.trebrown.com

bigdog

Nice work, Phil! Good reading. Do you think that it's possible that the seeds that you offered a few years ago as Musa formosana could in fact be M. balbisiana var. liukiuensis? I need to bring my two giants home and show you a picture. I can stand them up right next to a M. balbisiana 'Gigantia'. They do resemble M. balbisiana in many ways, but I haven't seen them bloom yet. However, they differ vegetatively in several ways also. I think M. balbisiana is a more diverse species than many of us realize.

Were you able to obtain a copy of Hui Lung's paper? We don't have that publication in the library, and I think it's all in Chinese anyway (except for the abstract). It'd be nice to see some pictures from that article. Maybe Markku has a copy that he could forward to you?

Thanks for your work in this area! Take care,

Frank

PhilMarkey

Sorry Frank, I hadn't realized that I had made the link point to the article abstract. I've now changed it to point to the complete pdf article on-line: http://www.tari.gov.tw/taric/uploads...arc_56-3-6.pdf

When you hinted at this the other day the same thing crossed my mind. I would swear that none of the seeds that I have collected over the years from this species in the south has ever been offered for sale, and none have ever been sent out of this nursery. However, it looks like you have evidence to prove otherwise. It may be possible that I or a member of staff here has at sometime in the past inadvertently sent out the wrong seeds. And maybe one of the reasons why there is so much confusion over M. formosana with you guys. If this turns out to be true, then I sincerely apologise for this error. And I wonder just how many of these seeds might have been sent out? This, I can assure you would not have been intentional, and would have been purely accidental if it happened.
Sorry guys!

I will have fresh Musa balbisiana var. liukiuensis here at the end of August, as I'll be back in Taiwan collecting again at that time. I do have fresh Musa formosana seeds here now, and which I guarantee to be 100%, high altitude, the real thing. I collected them personally. And I shall have more in August.

Warm Regards,
Phil

__________________
I'm the seed dealer at www.trebrown.com

bigdog

Thanks for the link to the article! That confirms it for me then. One of the reasons that I was hesitant to call my banana Musa balbisiana was that the leaf bases are not auriculate, as is with every other Musa balbisiana I've ever seen. In the pictures in that article, it clearly shows that the leaf bases are not auriculate either! The pseudostem is identical as well, and the petiole angle also. The only thing I don't have is a flower or fruit. I'll try to get some pics of mine when I bring them home from the greenhouse.

No biggie on the seed confusion, Phil. It happens. I'm looking forward to trying the real M. formosana now!! Thanks again,

Frank

Christian

Phil, Frank, have a look at the pictures in the article again and compare the leaf basis in b) and d). They are different! One is auriculate, the other isn't.

Christian

bigdog

OK, I took some pics of one of my plants today at the greenhouse, right before cramming this giant into the van and breaking most of the leaves. I'm surprised that it has grown this tall, despite being in such a small pot.

Whole plant:


Leaf base, showing unequal-sides. They aren't rounded, or auriculate, as most Musa. balbisiana are.


Top of the pseudostem:


Crown:


Lower pseudostem:

Christian

Regarding the leaf bases, Markku commented the following:

"All the young leaf bases are not auriculate. The phenomena is forming for older leaves. I have had many possibilities to study its plantations in China and my recent trip to Vietnam. The taxon is origin to China and later on introduced to Japan."

Christian

bigdog

Well, OK, but how old is "older?" This plant isn't exactly young anymore! It hasn't sprouted the first leaf with auriculate bases yet, and I would be willing to bet that it never will. I think I'll stick the thing in the ground soon, lol. It's suffered long enough in that small pot!

I hear you are going to Taiwan with Phil in August! Sounds like a good time. Best,

Frank

Gabe15

Sorry these photos aren't very good, they are the only ones I could find. This is the var. liukiuensis at Fairchild. There is also a very nice specimen at Waimea Valley here on Oahu, I don't know why I don't have photos of that one, but I will be going back next semester to collect lots of stuff from them.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

scottdurand

I have a friend that received a few of these from Fairchild. I will try to get my hands on one or two now that I have seen more photos. His are all juvies.