Tog Tan

A nice close up shot of flower bud and fruits. The bud is an impressive shiny scarlet in color.


Hiya people, no, I didn't do any leg work this time. I just want to share a couple of nice pix of the Musa beccarii in the wild which my friend documented while in Sabah, East Malaysia. I think most of the species players here are familiar with this Callimusa species and the seeds are often available in the market. In fact, my seeds have just germinated in only 26 days.

In the area where they are found, it can be termed as 'monotonous'. This plant has a p-stem height of approx 6 ft and from a distance, the leaves look narrow plank.

I was told that they were found for miles and miles with only slight interruption. So there goes the fun of seeing any musa species in the wild, rite?

Finally, there's a local folklore about this species. The Orang Asli believe that animal spirits like to take shelter in the clumps. Thus, they do not want to have anything to do with this plant.

Here is an interesting situation whereby this clump have plants growing in the side of the bush with direct sunlight and there's plenty more plants in the dark behind.


This species is very adaptable and can be found growing in the open with full sun.


This is how a typical vigorous clump of a musa species looks like in the wild. Crowded and messy.


Multiple buds in a clump.


All pix by my friend Colin Nicholas.

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

Bob

Any chance for photos of the Orang Asli and their living conditions(whatever that may mean). They sound like fascinating people.

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lorax

Nnggg. Tog if I wasn't broke I'd come and visit you! So many neat nanners!

Gabe15

Very nice Tog!

It should be noted that this species is now named Musa beccarii var. beccarii, to distinguish it from a different form, M. beccarii var. hottana. There are also intermediate forms. Var. hottana is known to grow on Borneo and is a smaller, more colorful plant that only grows in shaded conditions, it would make a great house-plant ornamental banana if more widely available. Even though a wild banana may be common and look mundane, there is always the possibility of something unique to be found.

One of the intermediate forms is growing at a botanic garden here on Oahu, I had one but it died, I may try to get another one later. Here are some photos of that plant. (sorry the photos cannot be turned).







Also, here is a table distinguishing the varieties from Hakkinen, Suleiman and Gisil in Acta Phytotaxonomica et Geobotanica Vol. 56 (2), 2005.

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

Tog Tan

Bob, I will get some pix of these people together and set up a new thread about them in Tiki Hut. The problem now is that due to modernization, they are no longer the same folks we used to know. In the 60's,their women still went around bare chested and they lived in very, very simple thatched huts. Most of the men were very good hunters with the blow pipe. They were used extensively in WW2 as scouts by the British army. Nowadays...Coke, jeans, bikes and handphone! Only a couple in my age group are still pretty good at the jungle craft. Most of the young 'uns well, like our normal young 'uns!

Beth, walk if you have to! When you are here all will be taken care of! Howzat?

[quote=Gabe15;64778]Very nice Tog!

It should be noted that this species is now named Musa beccarii var. beccarii, to distinguish it from a different form, M. beccarii var. hottana. There are also intermediate forms. Var. hottana is known to grow on Borneo and is a smaller, more colorful plant that only grows in shaded conditions, it would make a great house-plant ornamental banana if more widely available. Even though a wild banana may be common and look mundane, there is always the possibility of something unique to be found.

One of the intermediate forms is growing at a botanic garden here on Oahu, I had one but it died, I may try to get another one later. Here are some photos of that plant. (sorry the photos cannot be turned).

Gabe, thanks for you additional info. I am doing the posts on species in our area cos I was darn mad I can't get decent pix of them on the net. I love foliage and habitat shots and if you surf for any species pix on the net, it's basically a pix of the flower bud.

Musa textilis Bornean Form
Now here's is something interesting. Along with the shots I got from my friend, there is a shot taken by someone else using his camera. I couldn't ID the plant so I shot a note to Markku. He ID'd it as a Bornean form of the Musa textilis. Now that I know what it is, I am pretty annoyed I didn't get a pup of this plant. Damn! It was found in the same area.

Musa textilis - Bornean Form

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

Bob

[quote=Tog Tan;64809]Bob, I will get some pix of these people together and set up a new thread about them in Tiki Hut. The problem now is that due to modernization, they are no longer the same folks we used to know. In the 60's,their women still went around bare chested and they lived in very, very simple thatched huts. Most of the men were very good hunters with the blow pipe. They were used extensively in WW2 as scouts by the British army. Nowadays...Coke, jeans, bikes and handphone! Only a couple in my age group are still pretty good at the jungle craft. Most of the young 'uns well, like our normal young 'uns!


Yeah man it's a shame that wherever modern man sets foot he inevitably changes indigenous culture and not for the better. It has happened all over the world, Africa and Australia prime examples I know about. Damn shame. There are TV programs popular here in the states now that kind of glorify just such practice in the name of profits for the network and the hosts act as if they're doing a good thing.
It would be great if you could document some of the old geezer's (like you and me) among them before they're gone forever. Especially the hunters. Kids here these days put out piles of corn and wait for tame suburban deer and call it hunting, when I was young there were much fewer and kids had to learn woodsmanship..............Time marches on.

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