Oblofusc

I am trying to identify a mystery banana plant.

The mat in question is in terrible soil that has never been fertilized and is solely dependent on rain for watering (it's been pretty dry this year for north Florida). Yet the plants in it seem to be doing well, appearing healthy and 8-10 feet tall.

Three of the large plants in the mat are blooming. You know how most banana plant blooms (inflourescences) consist of a large purple-reddish pointy pod-shaped sheathed thing at the end of the stalk? Well, instead of a pointy reddish football shaped thing, imagine it having a much more rounded shape to it, and instead of reddish, it's more yellow than anything else.

There are quite a few stubby green bananas near the tops of the stalks, but I didn't pick one yet to see if it was full of seeds.

Given the more rounded shape of the sheath thing, its yellow color, and the apparent hardiness of the plants, I am guessing it's a Musa Basjoo. If the fruit is full of seeds, that would seem to support that guess.

Does anyone know of any other types it might be?

I have three pups from that mat that are growing nicely, but if they're indeed basjoos and are not ultimately going to produce edible fruit, over the fence they go into the potter's field to make room for pups from my edible-fruit varieties, which keep showing up. I just don't have enough pots, dirt or sunny space for all of them.

Gabe15

Sounds like M. basjoo. There are a few other bananas with yellow buds, but they are rare in cultivation and M. basjoo is very common.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.