Tropicallvr

It's hard to tell why they changed the name from Musa formosiana to Musa Basjoo 'Formosiana' since the two plants look nothing alike. The formosiana with it's really waxy pseudostem, with black dots looks alot more like Musa balbisiana, and that's what someone who didn't know the first thing about bananas pointed out when they were checking out the nanners at my place. I didn't get any pics of the overall leaf pics, but it looks basically like any other green edible banana at the stage it is at.


Here's a pic comparing the two basjoo's with regular on the right, and formosiana on the left.

Gabe15

There are a few things to consider regarding this plant.

1: As with many seed dealers, they really don't know what they are selling when it comes to new stuff. Much of the time, I see them literally just guess at what they think it might be, and pass it on as a legitimate name. So just because you bought the seed as that, it does not mean at all its correct.

2: Although not published yet, var. formosana (the true to type, real one, regardless of whether its in cultivation or not) is affiliated with the M. itinerans group and will most likely be renamed as a itinerans variety.

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bigdog

Gabe, you said it about the seed dealers! Anything to make a buck. Doesn't matter whether or not it's the real thing, as long as it has a name. Oh yeah...these seeds were from Trebrown in the UK.

Kyle, I should get a couple of pics of my biggest one. It has started to really take off recently. I'm afraid that it isn't Musa formosana though. The real Musa formosana has no wax anywhere on the foliage or pseudostem. I am curious as to what we do have, however! So far, it's an attractive young plant.

Tropicallvr

Phil of Trebrown said he harvested the seeds himself from the central mountains of Tawain at about 6,000 feet. I don't think he's an expert, so maybe he actually harvested some M.balbisiana? I didn't notice any leaf signs of it being balbisiana though, but maybe it will show up later. I sold both my formosianas to someone in Nor Cal zone 8, but I'll ask them how well they survived this winter after it's over.