Guess what I found!
 

I was walking on the beach this afternoon and where the Yasica river meets the sea, a sandbar has caused a lagoon to form, and on the edge of the lagoon a banana/plantain (who knows) with red variegated foliage had washed up with a 2ft long pup on the side. I have rushed home with my prize and I will plant it well away from the others with the problem I have posted about, and wait and see what it turns out to be. Looks like a tall one too.

Re: Guess what I found!
 

wow thats crazy!
:islandsharkbanana:

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that is awesome! i wish i lived somewhere where random cool banana plants washed up! i have to struggle to keep mine alive inside right now! lol!

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But I have problems now in the rainy season - 20.5 inches recently have caused my nanas to explode (at least I hope no virus is involved) - see my other posting.

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Lucky You Cassie!!!

I'm with dragr13. I wish I lived someplace things like that would wash up. I did see a tumbleweed blowing down the street this afternoon that was as big as a Volkswagen bug. Who knows what treasures it may have held? It was going about 45mph, so I didn't even try to stop it.

Post some pics if you get a chance. I'd love to see it.

Re: Guess what I found!
 

I'm new to the whole tumbleweed thing. What sort of treasures have they been known to hold?
:ropingnaner:

Re: Guess what I found!
 

Normally it's just fast food wrappers, Walmart bags, and millions of more weed seeds, but last year I found a $20 bill in one in my backyard. Like I said before, this one could have had a free Volkswagen in it. :2790:

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I hope they keep their variegation. There are some red fruited bananas that only grow up in the mountains - perhaps this is one of those washed down the river.

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That is really cool I wish that could happen here in Canada, I have been to Dominican Republic and it is a beautiful country.

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Well, it's the contrasts that make life interesting. We visited Canada for the first time last Oct/Nov and took the train from Toronto to Vancouver. Had a wonderful time with all that snow and wildlife - great scenery too.

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If a banana-plant and a mermaid showed up on my shores, I'd be happy.

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The orphan seems to have lost its variegation atm, but a new leaf is emerging and it is obviously struggling to get established. It will be interesting to see if the new leaf is variegated - hurry up and grow!!!!

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Cassie - that is so cool!!! I hope it grows into a healthy, beautiful plant!

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hehe. Cool find!!! The closest I've ever came to having something like that drop in on me was when a large coconut almost hit a friend in the head. And oh yeah a big tree branch fell and slightly hit my car (don't worry, it only left a small dent). :)

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From what I understand, the red splotching is caused by stress. If this is the case, your TLC probably allowed it to produce a true leaf.

If it drifted down the river, it probably came from a clump that was undermined by the river or something.

Seadless bananas must be planted by man. Do you have any information on the names of local cultivars?

Re: Guess what I found!
 

Yes Erik, we are very mountainous here and after heavy rain this particular banana was washed down the river and beached in a brackish tidal lagoon - very stressful , and I don't know how long it had been in the brackish water.

The tiresome thing here is that no-one seems to know anything about varieties. The commercial growers are not in my area, and although I can buy a large number of different eating fruit at various times, obtaining plants and names is very difficult. Men come around selling all sorts of fruit off the back of pickups, but asking for names or a pup just meets with a shrug. I have just replaced all my bananas and am waiting for the pups to take off. When they get to fruiting size I will ask for help in identifying them, as the local names are just that - local.

I am also persevering with message boards locally to try and get more information - dwarf cavendish is fairly easy to identify, but the red fruited, small fruited, and odd shaped varieties are more difficult. A local stubby appley variety that I thought I had lost, has just put up a tiny shoot from a fragment of root much to my delight - locally called a rulo. The parent plant was on the point of flowering when it was lost.

I am also cruising around the local veg plots and eyeing up their nanas hoping to ask for a pup when the fruit looks interesting. After a stalling period, my new pups are starting to take off and when there is something to show, I will post pictures, but it is taking time.

Love your pics and it is great to see other wild/unidentified nanas. Keep 'em coming.

Cassie

Re: Guess what I found!
 

From what I have seen of the ancient Hawaiians passion for creating cultivars, there must be other areas of the world that have had cultures with similar perspectives.

The Hawaiians developed hundreds of varieties each of Sweet Potatoes and Taro with over 80 varieties of Bananas.

Each of these perpetuated cultivars are mutants (sports) that essentially appeared out of the ether.

Recognized by the planter as something unique, they would have been planted seperately until that new trait had been developed into something that they liked.

The Hawaiians were very particular about naming things so we have some information left today. Still, what has been lost is more that what has been found.