Mudturkle

I was looking through the Kepler & Rust book on Iholenas. I couldn't find Iholena 'Tigua' in it. Is that because it was discovered in PNG only recently? Also, I read that Iholena Tigua is a synonym for Kumunamba or Yamunamba. Is all that correct?

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Central Texas Zone 8B and Gulf Coast zone 9B: Raja Puri, Dw. Brazilian, Dw. Orinoco, Dw. NamWah, Dw. Cavendish, Dw. Green?, Dw. Red? Iholena Tigua, Veinte Cohol, Misi Luki, Pisang Raja.

Gabe15

It is not in Kepler's book because that book is only covering Hawaiian cultivars, and other common cultivars grown in Hawaii. Iholena bananas exist across the entire Pacific, and although the name of the group is taken from a Hawaiian name, not all of the Iholena cultivars are Hawaiian. It was introduced to the international collection almost 30 years ago, so is not new in terms of broader availability.

Records from the PNG national collection list 'Tigua' and 'Kumunamba' as synonyms, but a genetic analysis seems to indicate although they are extremely closely related, they might be slightly different. As to whether you could tell them apart in the field, I do not know, but I would think it unlikely.

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