Banana Identification Help
 

Hi all,

I recently moved to Costa Rica and bought a home that has 53 banana/plantain plants and was hoping to get information as to the varieties. Here are a few pictures of plants with newly emerging fingers, and some that are closer to the mature stage. Thanks in advance for any information you can give me.

Re: Banana Identification Help
 

Can try, but I do wanna caveat that I am not as experienced as some of the senior members. Hopefully one of them pops in to confirm or correct any errors I make.

Assuming they show in the same order for everyone:
1- (ABB Group, Pisang Awak Subgroup) Namwa: Based on the closed petiolar canals (the groove in the leaf stalk), along with purplish coloration and basal fusion of the pedicels (the stalks between the individual fruits and the rachis/stalk of the plant), reasonably confident that it's a Namwa.

2- (AAB Group, Silk Subgroup) Manzano/Apple/Silk Fig: The petiole color and canals being closed and the dingy white color of the male flowers are the identifiers I used. Note that this is a different variety from the Pome Subgroup "Apple" banana.

3- Too early for me to identify.

4- (ABB Group, Bluggoe Subgroup) Orinoco/Largo/Bluggoe: The unfused pedicel bases, angularity of the fruits, slight bends of the rachis (the stalk the fruit hands are attached to) after the fruits, and the spacing of the hands suggest it's an Orinoco.

5- Orinoco: See #4 above, plus the closed petiolar canals.

6- Orinoco: See #4 above.

7- (AAB Group, Pome Subgroup) Brazilian/Hawaiian Apple: Erect/U-shaped petiolar canal, white-pink female flower coloration, unfused pedicel bases, and the bract (the purple "petals") lifting with some rolling, all lead me to believe that it's a Pome Subgroup variety. The female flower coloration does have me second guessing which specific cultivar it is, but I'm reasonably sure it's a Pome of some sort. This isn't the same as the Silk Subgroup "Apple".

Notes: I'm not making any distinctions as to cultivars with different heights in this analysis, since I don't have an idea of the scale of each of the plants. Orinoco varieties are quite widespread, and there's a lot of local names for the many different subcultivars (like Cali Gold) that I'm not gonna attempt to dissect.

Re: Banana Identification Help
 

Bluggoe subgroup, and locally it's often called a Guineo Mafafo or Platano Mafafo even though it's not a true plantain.

It's common for some cooking bananas to be called Platano or Plantain. Popoulu subgroup is another example of this and is often called a Pacific Plantain or Pana Platano.

Re: Banana Identification Help
 

It's a Dwarf Bluggoe and in your near perfect environment the bunch size should look more like this.

That's a 5 gallon bucket in the bottom photo.

Re: Banana Identification Help
 

Thank you very much! That was quite helpful, and most appreciated! I had the Bluggoe figured out correctly, and the others do make sense, especially the Manzano variety as that is a common plant down here.

Re: Banana Identification Help
 

Beautiful rack. Those are exactly what I have there. I think I have three or four groupings of the Bluggoe's on the property. I have been making plantain chips out of them. Thanks for the information and photo's.

Re: Banana Identification Help
 

If you like dessert bananas I'd recommend any variety in the Mysore subgroup.

It's often called a Guineo de Pina.

Re: Banana Identification Help
 

Wow what a beautiful picture, not a variety I've ever seen for sale in the UK.