Ok people, my dumb crack earlier is a prelude to this;
I feel Jarred is rightly concerned about knowing what we grow and for what reason. In the temperate areas where you all are, it is less likely of a chance of a melting pot for species.
I am not keen in giving away seeds of the
Musa acuminata because they germinate easily if the condition is right. Over here , they are considered a weed. They are not really invasive if the condition is not suitable. Say, if someone in Florida keeps this and then birds or small mammals feed on its ripen fruits which are extremely aromatic and sweet, you will find them growing wild in the surrounding areas. However, since there are no endemic
musa species, there is no problem of hybridization. You will only get a foreign species in your country for which many may consider exotic. Anyway, I do not wish to be immortally remembered as the one who introduced this sp to USA! If you keep this sp,
cut and dispose of the fruits
before they ripen. We have to be responsible.
While researching and gathering more pix for an article in our mag, I came to an area where
Musa acuminata and
Musa violascens grow side by side and hybridizing like nobody's business. You will have to be very observant to spot the resulting offspring.
In the past, these 2 sp were on their own turf.
M-a in the
drier open areas and
M-v in the
wetter areas near streams and rivers. Development has cleared land into housing and agri and the
M-a is pushed
next to the
M-v. Only God knows how long before this particular area will have
only the
infused plant.
Species were maintained naturally before man arrived on their own terms by division of land mass, mountains and what not. Now, the progress of human has become the progress of their extinction through infusion of hybridization.
When I ponder upon it, I wouldn't believe the sds collected here can be true in either species. The fruits look right on either species but because of the close proximity, the sds can be the result of a primary hybrid. Of course then, there are the F3 and beyond because of cross pollination and their short cycle to flowering. Scary.....
M-v (left) with shiny upper leaf surface and
M-a (right) with waxy white leaf undersurface growing side by side.
