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Old 08-28-2008, 04:05 PM   #6 (permalink)
bigdog
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Default Re: Ensete superbum ssp. Thailand seeds are germinating

Kyle, the Ensete 'Kluay Pa' seeds are much smaller then the Ensete superbum ssp. 'Thailand' seeds, so I really don't think it is the same species at all. 'Kluay Pa' could feasibly be a subspecies of superbum though, and the Thai superbum could just be a different variety of superbum. I didn't get to see the flower, only the bananas. I got them from a vendor at the Sunamluang Song plant market in Nakorn Pathom province in Thailand. Tons of little cubicles for vendors to set up their plants, and this guy had some small Thai superbums for sale, as well as a few Musa species. He just gave me a small handful of seeds out of a dried banana that he had there, and that he said he had just picked a few days beforehand.

The Thai superbum seeds are different enough from the Indian superbum seeds to separate them based on that alone.

Hope Steve doesn't mind me posting his pics here.

Indian superbum


Thai superbum


Another Thai superbum, growing in thailand.


Indian superbum growing here in Knoxville at UT Gardens


Another one with distorted leaves that shows the midribs better.


So 2 things jump right off the screen at me.

First, the Indian Form has reddish midribs on the undersides of the leaves.

The Thai form does not have red midribs.

Second, the Indian Form has leaves that are a bright green, like E. ventricosum.

The Thai form has leaves that more resemble E. glaucum or Musella lasiocarpa in color, more of a bluish-green.

They definitely look like different plants to me.
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