Botanical_Bryce

And those even look the same.

cincinnana

I do want to clarify.....my plants are in containers:.....

These plants are not in the ground and do not overwinter outside.

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Botanical_Bryce

Even cooler

eddiemunozep

I don't know about no one liking them but in southern California they are everywhere.

The population coming from tropical climates love them.

Fried when green or eating out of hand when really ripe.

Growing better varieties is for the gardening fan and lovers of bananas.

Rmplmnz

Anyone who has ever visited Going Bananas is sure to be impressed with teh banana patch that Bill Lessard started and Don & Katie Chafin have run so well the last 22 years!

Following is an interesting article:

Going Bananas Yes, We Have Some Bananas, In All Shapes And Flavors For Desserts Or Side Dishes.
December 5, 1991|By STEVEN RAICHLEN, Special to the Sun-Sentinel
Remember the banana? It was bow-shaped and yellow, 6 to 8 inches long, and it probably bore a sticker saying Chiquita or Dole. You could buy it green, let it ripen at room temperature to the familiar canary yellow, then slice it into your cornflakes.

If you think that`s all there is to bananas, think again. Today, there`s a bewildering variety of bananas: finger bananas no larger than your pinkie; Hawaiian bananas as big around as your arm; apple bananas that taste like a cross between a banana and a Macintosh apple; plantains, which must be cooked to be enjoyed, and more.

Most Americans eat bananas only when ripe. But Latin Americans and West Indians use bananas when hard and green, when squishy soft and brown and at every stage in between. Most Americans eat bananas in their natural state -- raw -- or baked in banana bread. In other cultures, bananas are thin-sliced and fried like potato chips, boiled and mashed like potatoes, or even grilled like steak.

In most cultures, too, a wide selection of bananas is commonplace. And increasingly, we are becoming familiar with them here. In Miami, my neighborhood Cuban produce market routinely carries six varieties. And mariquitas (green plantain chips), maduros (fried sweet plantains) and tostadas (mashed fried green plantains) are popular snacks not only among Cuban and Nicaraguan Americans, but among Miamians of all ethnic persuasions.

Few Floridians know more about bananas than Bill Lessard. A former fighter pilot, he grows more than 50 varieties on his 7-acre farm in Redland, an hour south of Miami. ``The first time I saw a banana tree in Texas,`` recalls Lessard, ``I said to myself, `I have to grow these one day.``` A stint in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam years introduced him to many of the varieties he grows.



``I`ve prowled through every jungle in the world, looking for new ones,`` says Lessard, whose impressive collection bears out his claim.

Lessard`s plantation offers quite an education on bananas. Consider the African rhino horn, a mammoth banana that weighs 3 pounds and measures 2 feet. ``The tree only produces 10 to 15 bananas a year,`` Lessard says.

On the opposite spectrum, there is the Indonesian finger banana. A single bunch from this tree might contain 1,000 bananas no bigger than your baby finger.

``Here`s an up-and-comer,`` says Lessard, pointing to a banana that is lime green, 6 to 8 inches long and as big around as my forearm. ``Its name is huamoa, which means `rooster testicle` in Tahitian. It`s absolutely beautiful for frying.``

Introducing the huamoa to Miami`s Cuban community, however, Lessard renamed it Hawaiian banana, which is easier to say in Spanish. ``I can`t grow enough of them today,`` he says.

Other prized specimens include the raga puri (a small, angular banana from India with a pinkish flesh high in sucrose) and the orinoco (a ``big, fat, super-sweet`` banana from Venezuela). And ``this one will grow 20 feet high in nine months,`` says Lessard, pointing to the saba banana tree from the Philippines.

``As for sheer beauty, you won`t find a prettier banana than the red iholene, whose skin looks like a tropical sunset when the fruit is ripe,`` he says.

Several of Lessard`s exotic bananas are already a commercial success, including the tiny finger banana and apple banana, a small, fat fruit.

Nor should one forget the plantain, a jumbo cousin of the commonplace banana that traditionally is cooked before it is eaten. Plantains are eaten at every stage of ripeness. When green (verde in Spanish), they are starchy and bland, like potatoes, and can be fried, boiled or mashed. Plantains also can be baked, like potatoes. Semi-ripe plantains (called pintados -- painted ones) are sweet and are popular mashed or fried. Maduros (literally ``ripe ones``) are as sweet as regular bananas and usually eaten fried.

To taste a plantain at its sweetest, wait until the skin is completely black.

Finger bananas, apple bananas, red bananas and plantains are available at some supermarkets and specialty shops. Look for them at any market that caters to a Caribbean or Latin American clientele.


According to Lessard, bananas should be bought when they are yellow, with just a tinge of green. Let them ripen at room temperature until they are completely yellow; tiny brown spots, which Lessard calls ``sugar spots,`` begin to appear. Of course, bananas are also delicious green, as evidenced in the following recipes.

Steven Raichlen is a free-lance writer living in Coconut Grove.

Link to the entire article:
Going Bananas Yes, We Have Some Bananas, In All Shapes And Flavors For Desserts Or Side Dishes. - tribunedigital-sunsentinel

Botanical_Bryce

Unless I understand otherwise I am going to assume Orinoco to be a subgroup similar to cavendish being a subgroup. The Orinocos are hated here and are obviously a different form. That is why I am collecting specimens.

Gabe15

The subgroup is called Bluggoe

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

Botanical_Bryce

Thanks Gabe. That helps me a bunnch. Maybe the word Orinoco is being used when it should not be.

Botanical_Bryce

Botanical_Bryce

Gabe15

'Orinoco' is fine to use as a regional cultivar name, just as long as we make it clear to ourselves and other banana nerds seeking information that it does not come from anywhere near the Orinoco river. I would hazard to guess that 50% of plant cultivar names are simply the name of whoever or wherever the plant was acquired from for the people calling it by that name, and so the fact that it is misleading is irrelevant in my opinion (the other 50% seem to be named for some distinguishing attribute). Keeping the name 'Orinoco' is actually quite useful as it indicates the plant in reference is most likely the clone commonly found in the Southern US, as opposed to other Bluggoe clones which may have some differences.

The banana subgroup system exists to help give a reference point of relation for all of the many different, and sometimes the same, cultivars out there, but any commonly accepted cultivar name in a region is still valid.

If you wanted to be super formal, you can refer to this plant as Musa (ABB Bluggoe) 'Orinoco'.

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

Botanical_Bryce

Gabe, is there a source for the bluggoe varieties? For id that is.

Gabe15

No, not really. In fact, there are no published broad ID guides for any subgroups yet (as far as I know), it is something that is being actively worked on, but it is quite a complex task, and there will always be cultivars that resist neat classification with established groups.

My best advice is to download as many germplasm catalogs as you can and study them. You can find a good starter set at Musa Network, and select "publications" and download the files under "diversity studies" and "catalogues".

Also, this page is very far from complete, but has a basic framework for cataloging the known diversity, especially take notice of the "Banana Cultivar Checklist": Diversity of banana cultivars portal | Knowledge and news on bananas from ProMusa

My expertise, which still feels novice at times in the presence of my mentors and peers who have been studying bananas longer than I've been alive, has largely come from seeing thousands of different bananas up close, in my farms and gardens, in botanic gardens, field collections, villages, and in the wild, and I am always learning and seeing more. It is important to pair the hands-on knowledge with literature, but of course the literature is far more accessible, so it is a good place to start, but will not be able to give a really accurate/full fleshed representation of the diversity out there.

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

Botanical_Bryce

So maybe I can be the first to create a Florida bluggoe collection. I am up to 6 varieties now and soon 7.

Botanical_Bryce

There are still major gaps in the history but I have still learned a ton. I plan on talking to some archeologist and native Americans.