Musa Iholena 'ula ula'
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Cultivar Name
Musa Iholena 'Ula'ula
Synonyms
Red red
Pictures
no picture
Description
- Genetic Group - Eumusa, AAB, Subgroup Iholena
First discovered in 1960 in 'Maui Ditch', as later recounted by Dr. Adrian Brash in a recorded 1984 interview. The name 'Ula'ula (Hawai'ian for red) does not exist historically as it was coined in ~1960 by Bernice P. Bishop Museum botanist, Marie Neal. Very little photographic evidence of it exists, though recorded conversations indicate that it retains a reddish-bronze color on all the leaf undersides. Dr. Brash recounted that it resembles other members of the Iholena Subgroup, other than intense red coloration on the pseudostem like 'Cuban Red'. Ron Fenstemacher, a chemist working with University of Hawai'i to maintain living collections of traditional bananas, recalled that the underside of the leaves strongly retain reddish-bronze or maroon coloration. Whether this is a distinct variety from the red form of Iholena Lele is debatable, as there is little evidence to work off of to properly assess any distinction.
Conservation
Diseases and overharvesting of wild stock in Hawai'i has eliminated any possibility of living wild reservoirs remaining. Other than a collection in Cameroon and an inaccessible sample in the International Transit Centre, this variety is effectively extinct. Supposedly introduced into Florida in the 1960's with little success.
Origin
Hawaii. A possible precursor from Tahiti exists, known as Mei'a 'Ute'ute, though that variety has not been reported since 1994 (as of 2011, according to Kepler & Rust).
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Usage
Flowering
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Cultivation
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Known Afflictions
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Research Notes
- Links to useful discussion threads in the forum:
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Members Growing This Banana
External
- Links
- (Links to other useful pages on the web that mention this banana. Example: International Banana Society)
- Sources
Kepler, A.K. and Rust, F.G. 2011. The world of bananas in Hawai'i: then and now. Pali-O-Waipi'o press, Hawaii. 586p. https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/the-world-of-bananas-in-hawaii-then-and-now/
ITC MGIS entry - Iholoena Ula Ula [sic] https://www.crop-diversity.org/mgis/accession/01CMR004504