Banana Plant Identification

[roadrunner]

Yesterday, I saw a banana plant that only stood a meter high and looked like any dwarf banana plant, except that it had a pink (not purple) inflorescence. Any idea what variety of banana plant this is?

 

[vette-kid]

Picture is worth a thousand words! Are you sure it was dwarf, or just a young plant?

 

[roadrunner]

I'm not sure if it's a dwarf or not, all I can say is that it only stands a meter high and had a pink (very pink) inflorescence protruding from it.

I see it on a route I ride everyday on my bike, so I didn't have a camera, but maybe I'll try and get a pic when I take my truck to drop off some metal scrap in the next couple of days...

P.S. I only have a small flip-style phone and don't have a means to load pics to the computer, so I'll have to bring my camera.

 

[vette-kid]

Try to get a few pics of it. Bananas can be difficult to ID, there are hundreds of varieties and most look VERY similar. If it had any variegation then that would narrow it down and most variegated types do have a pink hue to the inflorescence. Also, have a look here if you have time to search it.

All articles - Bananas Wiki

www.bananas.org

 

[roadrunner]

These banana plants definitely look like most other varieties/species, except for the pink inflorescence...

 

[vette-kid]

The inflorescence is upright? Possibly Musa ornata. It is either but very seedy and not really worth the effort ( no first hand experience here). Other possibility is Musa velutina. If the fruit becomes slightly fuzzy then I'd say velutina. Both are edible but very seedy.

I should add, I have no first hand experience with either of these bananas and there may be other varieties possible. These are just the two that stick out as obvious possibilities to me.

 

[roadrunner]

Yes, I forgot to mention that the inflorescence did present a peculiar upright position.

Thanks for the different varieties; I'll have to keep an eye on it and see which one applies. Since looking into the varieties you listed, I did read that they're not considered good eating, so I'll stay away from them.