Quote:
Originally Posted by Gabe15
It is very much a real plant, I was on the scientific team who discovered and documented it for the scientific community in PNG in 2016, and I have personally documented and photographed a number of individual specimens in PNG in 2016 and 2019. We were hoping to be able to find a way to commercially release it strategically and have the proceeds go back to the communities where it comes from, or to support banana conservation in PNG, but unfortunately some people followed our tracks from our reports and went to collect the plants and superseded us. Unlike many variegated bananas, it actually does seem to be able to withstand tissue culture and produce true to type plants, so I expect they will be widely available and cheap one day.
We also have genetic data on it that is not yet published, but is part of a group of related ornamental cultivars of still mysterious origin, and we found at least 5 distinct color forms in this group so far.
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HOW EXCITING!! Its a pleasure to digitally meet you!! I have been searching high and low trying to gather information on these variegations. I even found a niche Taiwanese forum with pictures of an unreported? massive Philodendron. The image had a woman posed next to a singular leaf larger than bus.
What do you mean by conservation? There is a video on youtube of farmers chopping down banana trees because a maggot about the size of an iPhone were eating out bases. I will try to find the video again. Another farmer in Thailand mentioned he burns them when he comes across this color because it spreads disease and so do some of his friends. There are five separate persons in Indonesia that somehow managed to have this plant but I notice in their pictures the sap is red, almost blood like, and they seem to be in a poor state. ALSO They're more green-pink than black-pink, there's a noticeable difference between the photos.
What are the related ornamentals? What other colorations are there? Are there some banana trees that "glitter" similar to micans? What about pink-white similar to the White Pink Princess Philodendron? What are the tallest heights recorded for the Musa aeae and nono? Would you be able to provide clarity on the difference between an Aeae and Florida? Everything online simply mentions Aeae has narrower leaves and is tougher to grow, while the Florida is cultivated in separate regions.
If you're able to share, do you have a scientific album or something we may browse? I don't mind if some information needs to be redacted or classified. I understand deforestation is a huge concern. I'm just a passionate hobbyist that is wowed by how many plants are uncovered that I didn't know could exist lol