Quote:
Originally Posted by chong
From all the photos I’ve seen of the VC and PM, the fruits are identical, where the base and the tips are rounded or blunt, the skin shiny and tough. In comparison, Seņorita fruits have pointed tips, though not quite a bottleneck shape, have thinner skins that break apart easily, almost sticking to the pulp, and not as shiny, and smaller in diameter than the VC or PM. The pulp of the VC and PM are likewise identical in color,i.e. very light golden yellow, while the Seņorita is somewhat tinged with pinkish shade. That is why I think that the VC is closer to PM than Seņorita.
As for reference, from “Banana Cultivar Names and Synonyms in Southeast Asia”:
In table 3. In the same subgroup: Musa acuminata Diploid AA (dessert):
Phil.: Amas = Malay: Pisang Mas = Thai: Kluai Khai
Phil.: Veinte Cohol = Malay: Pisang Masam = Thai: Kluai Hom Thong Son
(8 other variety follows before the next row)
Phil.: Inarnibal= Malay: Pisang Impat Puluh Hari = Thai: (No equivalent listed)
Phil.: Mama-on= Malay: Pisang Lemak Manis Terenganu = Thai: (No equivalent listed)
Phil.: (No equivalent listed)= Malay: (4 varieties follow)= Thai: (No equivalent listed on the following 2 rows). . . . . . .
In table 4. In the same subgroup: Musa acuminata Diploid AA (dessert):
Of the 8 entries under Philippines, only the first two entries had Malay and Thai equivalents, and only a Thai equivalent on the third:
Phil.: Bu-oy = Malay: Pisang Serindek= Thai: Kluai Lai
Phil.: Eda-an = Malay: Pisang Jarum= Thai: Kluai Nam Thai
Phil.: Ga-o = Malay: (No equivalent listed)= Thai: Kluai Thong Det
In the following 5 Philippine entries in this block, of which Seņorita is listed 6th overall, there are no Malay, Indonesian, Thai or Vietnamese equivalent.
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That table does not say they are equivalent or in the same subgroup, if you look carefully on those tables, it only lists that they are in the same
genome, AA, and what their cultural use is. Subgroups exist
within genomes and that document does not make any references as to what subgroups those varieties are in. As stated before, my understanding of the varieties as of now is that neither Pisang Mas, Senorita or Veinte Cohol are synonymous or even in the same subgroup (though they are definitely all have an AA genome), but based on morphology and growth habit, its possible that Veinte Cohol may be closer related to Senorita than to Pisang Mas. This is just a guess. You could be right in that Veinte Cohol is indeed closer related to Pisang Mas, but the information that is out there must be interpreted correctly, and as of yet, they all appear to be completely different cultivars.
There are many bananas with very similar fruit, but there are many more descriptors used to characterize bananas when classifying them. Fruit is just one, and when looking at the whole plant there may be other, more influential traits.
The genomes are not in any way monophyletic, all they state is the ploidy level of the plant and its chromosome composition to the species level of its wild ancestors. However, there were many different subspecies of M. acuminata (and though not fully invesitgated yet, likely different varieties of M. balbisiana as well) that contributed to the evolution of the edible bananas. Plants within a subgroup are very closely related, but other subgroups within the same genome may have had a very different evolutionary history, even though they are arrived at the same genome classification.