aroidgrower

Well I grew this from seed out of China and figured it would be much like all my other bananas. It grew fairly fast with a bit pinkish at the base of the trunk I also noticed distinct flaps on the stems mulch like I see on basjoo which is what helps me ID it from others. But the flaps on the stems here seemed to dry up almost right off the bat. So with many of my bananas I figured I would dig it up for winter as it has not yet been tested and I had far to few to spare. Once I started to dig up the plant I noticed something very odd I was cutting on something far out on the edges. After raising it form the ground I noticed large rhizomes coming from the banana into the soil. I decided I would see were they went and started digging them out. Most were 3 to 5 feet away and around 1 to almost 2 feet underground. They seemed fiberous like basjoo and around the size of my wrist and a bit flat. This might be one of the strangest form I have run into. I left a few rhizomes in the ground to get tested and dug the rest. Has anyone seen anything like this form? The photos attached show the whole plant then a pic of the rhizomes cut off of it.

Attached Images

	Florida trip 2006 892 (Medium).jpg (62.4 KB, 118 views)
	Florida trip 2006 894 (Medium).jpg (95.5 KB, 117 views)

MediaHound

Here you go.

It's best to upload pics to your photo gallery, that way people can casualy browse them on the site and also keeps it organized and easier to research.
There's a link that scrolls by in the gallery homepage that gives you tips on how to post the pics in the thread.

Anyway, that's pretty interesting!
Looks like the wind knocked it around a bit.
Did the seeds come with any identifying information?

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bigdog

Brian, that looks like Musa itinerans var. xishuangbannaensis (Musa itinerans var. gigantea). I have one, not quite that size yet, but the reddish-yellow colors on the pseudostem are identical. That is the one that grows to 40 feet. Coincidentally, it is also the banana that a lot of seed sites and some banana sites (including Agri-Starts) have pictured as Musa itinerans, but actually are offering something completely different. The Musa itinerans they offer only grows to about 15 feet of pseudostem, has a waxy, bluish cast to the pseudostem, and red on the underside of newer leaves. I can't wait to get mine in the ground next Spring! I've seen pups come up over 6 feet away from the mother corm. Give it some room!

momoese

My Hawaiian Apples and Pisang Klotek have done the same thing sending up a shoot far from the plant. Maybe it's not so unusual?

bigdog

Actually, it is fairly unusual in the banana world. Only a few species do this, such as Musa itinerans var. xishuangbannaensis, Burmese Blue, and M. laterita. There are several others that I am not familiar with that have this habit also. As far as I know, none of the edible cultivars produce long rhizomes in this manner. Musa basjoo can send pups out a fair ways also. The pup that I got of M. xishuang was dug up over six feet away from the mother corm!

Gabe15

These are called "traveling bananas", this is the trait that gives Musa itinerans its name because the suckers are itinerant..."traveling from place to place to work" (from a dictionary definition). var. xishuangbannaensis can have suckers up to 5m away, other large species that do this are M. basjoo in some cases and Musa tonkinensis.

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STEELVIPER

Yeah, my basjoo has done this. It sent out 3 suckers. 2 about 2 feet away from the mother corm,and 1 at 3 plus feet away.

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GAPEye

Nice Picture !

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