Quote:
Originally Posted by venturabananas
I've been trying to figure out what my neighbor's bananas are. I think they are either a Silk (manzano most likely) or a Pisang Awak. If you didn't have male flowers to look at, what key characteristics would you use to distinguish the two groups?
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Flowers, as they are classically regarded in all of botany, are very discriminating and useful parts to help ID from. With bananas, the actual flowers are useful, but the most useful "part" is the entire inflorescence with developing fruit and an intact male bud, which includes flowers.
If you are certain it is either one of those two subgroups of banana, you can tell them apart by some vegetative traits. But if you are not certain, then they will need to flower as it could be anything really.
If it's just between those two, then Silk has red coloration on the petiole bases, and a thick reddish line along the petiole edge. Pisang Awaks normally do not have any reddish coloration on the petioles or petiole bases.
Keep in mind though, that those traits will distinguish those two cultivars groups only if you are certain that it is one of those two. If you are not sure, then they are rather useless as they describe many other entirely different bananas too.