Habitat pix of Wild Bananas in Peninsular M'sia

[Tog Tan]

Here are some shots of how the local wild 'naner species grow in the wild. Pix #1-#4 are of the Musa acuminata subsp malaccensis which is the dominant species of the lowlands.

Hope you folks like the pix!

Pix #1 - Wild Musa species are found in bright areas with good sunlight throughout the day.

Pix #2 - Notice that they are found away from the canopy of the tall trees.

Pix #3 - They are frequently found near bodies of water.

Pix #4 - Here they growing next to a river with the Areca catechu, the Betel Nut Palm.

Pix #5 - Musa violascens, a Callimusa, this is the biggest muther of a clump I have seen to date. It is growing in a creek which is wet all the time. The shot is from the top before the drop. There were around 10 plants in bloom inside the clump.

[Simba]

Beautiful series of photos......

[musa_monkey]

Great photos thanks

[becky]

wow there gorgeous what lovelly photos thanks

[Dave Brown]

Looks idyllic Tog, Like my garden would if it was always 10C warmer here Do you grow Siam Ruby

[Mark]

Super pics Tog. And like i said before...I dunno how you never get lost

[SteveW]

Great pics Tog

[Alexander]

Nice pisang pics!

In the wild Musas are typical pioneering species of disturbed habitats. Especially on more fertile moist to wet soil. In undisturbed virgin forest you only see them where landslides or a tree fall occurs. And near meandering rivers. But where forest have been cut you get them by the thousends. In tropical America you see the same with Heliconias.

Alexander

[Tog Tan]

Looks idyllic Tog, Like my garden would if it was always 10C warmer here Do you grow Siam Ruby

Thanks Dave. Siam Ruby? You mean Siam Weedby? No one gives it a hoot here cos its inedible and looks like a big version of the Heliconia indica var illustris!
In Thailand, my friends are giving them away like a pest. That's how I got them. I asked and one of them happily got rid of 12 from his garden for me. Before 2 mths was up, 12 became 33 and more counting. Sorry mate, didn't mean to run it down

[jase]

Welcome Tog some great pictures there, as for the Siam weedby are they native to the the far east
If you get chance please post some pictures
jase

[Tog Tan]

Welcome Tog some great pictures there, as for the Siam weeby are they native to the the far east
If you get chance please post some pictures
jase

Hi Jase,
As for the Siam Weedby, I did my best to track the origin through some academic people from a well known uni in Thailand.
This is what I got;
It came to Thailand from Indonesia and it is known there as Indon Dang (Red Indon in Thai) never as Siam Ruby. Siam Ruby is concocted by someone when it got to the US and it did a great job in its marketing. Now the best part here is that, it seems this strain originally came to Indonesia from the Philippines!

To date, no one has seen it in flower or fruit, not even in Thailand after all the years its been there.

[tropical-pete]

Some great pictures Tog, what a gorgeous place! I love that Callimusa, what an amazing clump of plants

Interesting to hear about the Siam Ruby, being a prized gem over here

[GARYnNAT]

Drool .....what great pictures...sigh, if only

Gary

[Dave Brown]

It came to Thailand from Indonesia and it is known there as Indon Dang (Red Indon in Thai) never as Siam Ruby. Siam Ruby is concocted by someone when it got to the US and it did a great job in its marketing. Now the best best here is that, it seems this strain originally came to Indonesia from the Philippines!

To date, no one has seen it in flower or fruit, not even in Thailand after all the years its been there.

We don't get many Bananas to flower or fruit here as most are too tall and need to be inside for the winter. We grow it mainly for the colour and form, but it does seem to need very high light levels. higher than we can give it in winter.

[Tog Tan]

Yo Dave,
I understand the frustrations you guys get with 'naners as I am with the IBS forum and I really feel lucky about growing 'naners here.

Talking about really short 'naners, there is one particular cultivar from here which is not released into the horticulture market. It gets to fruit at 4ft and prefers subdued lighting. It is sort of an heirloom cultivar known as the Dwarf Pisang Mas. I have a plant in my home grown under shade and it has yet to fruit it. It doesn't have the stumpy look of the Dwarf Cav or the Super Dwarf Cav. It is well proportioned like a big plant but in miniature. It is supposed to produce 4 combs or more of very sweet and tasty fruits. I have yet to see any other similar plant of this stature from this region.

This is the Dwarf Pisang Mas. It is already 1 yr old and the p-stem is only 2ft tall. Can't wait for it to fruit.