andy17

Hello sddarkman619,
I've read a lot about this debate too and just like the Blue Java/Ice Cream debate, it appears that all of this discussion started with a legitimate truth that Pisang Ceylon and Mysore were very similar but slightly different. From my understanding, Pisang Ceylon, Misi Luki, and Mysore are all in the same family and share very similar characteristics, but are all distinctly different. Mysore was basically the only one from this family sold in the USA until Misi Luki was introduced to the commercial nursery system. I have read many reports from around bananas.org that most of the Misi Luki sold in the USA is really some kind of Pisang Awak "Namwah" type. This lead to a lot of confusion as some people got the "real" Misi Luki and most did not. Eventually, people became unsure as to which was the original. About this time, BBTV was making an impact on this side of the globe and people started finding that even when isolated, Mysore plants spontaneously seemed to develop BBTV. When it was discovered that Mysore has the genome for the virus inserted into the plant's DNA; any stress on the plant could cause the virus to become active, and start producing copies straight from the plant's own DNA. A very close relative, Pisang Ceylon seemed, however, to not have this issue. Later research confirmed that Pisang Ceylon didn't appear to have BBTV in its DNA. Suddenly, banana plant collectors began to seek out this variety over the Mysore. The Pisang Ceylon's claim to fame in the USA was that it didn't have BBTV in its DNA as the Mysore did, but was otherwise the same banana. It would seem that if a nursery went so far as to label their plants "Pisang Ceylon" over Mysore (of course, assuming that the nursery isn't rebranding Mysore's as "basically the same thing"--which no reputable nursery should do), then they should be legitimate. It seems to me, and this may be wrong, but that the USDA was involved in verifying the clone stock for the Pisang Ceylon and the Gros Michel batches several years ago--although, I have no hard evidence for that. I suppose the best thing to do would be to contact Agristarts to see where their source material for the plants originated and if they are aware of the distinction between Pisang Ceylon. I know they have been very helpful of clarifying the origins for other varieties. Sorry, this is a very long read, but I hope it helps some! Cheers

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