Everyone knows about the Musa acuminata but the subspecies truncata is a little known form endemic to the highlands of Peninsular Malaysia.
I see the Musa acuminata subsp malaccensis everywhere I go and I was curious about the subsp truncata. Literature on it was scarce, so I took a drive to the western side of the Main Range and went up to almost 6,000ft asl. The following are my observations;
Range
They are found from about 2,500 ft asl upwards. The matured plants display a green/black pseudostem at a lower elevation. Plants from 4,000ft asl have totally black pseudostems and petioles. I know that reptiles tend to be darker in pigmentation in the highlands as to be able to absorb heat better, is it the same with this musa?
Size
The matured plants are about 12ft in pseudostem height with long narrow leaves.
Foliage
It is interesting that the subsp malaccensis have a slivery underleaf and green mid rib while the subsp truncata is a semi gloss green underneath with a red mid rib.
The young plants of the subsp truncata have very narrow and lanceolate leaf whereas the subsp malaccensis young have broad oval leaves. Interesting!
Note the red mid rib and glossy undersurface.
Leaf upper surface is matte with very slight wax.
A clump growing at 5,000+ft asl
I had no luck in locating any flowering or fruiting plants. I will go again on another time as I want to get the seeds.
Please check my photo gallery for more pix of this plant.