Wild forest banana seeds (Musa yunnanensis)

Wild forest banana seeds (Musa yunnanensis )

Price for Package of 3 seeds.

A new, cold-tolerant species from the mountains of southwest China.
Musa yunnanensis, commonly known as the Yunnan banana or the wild forest banana, is a recently described plant in the banana and plantain family that is native to Yunnan, southern China. The sample was collected in 2005 in Xishuangbanna (an autonomous prefecture on the border with Indochina) at an altitude of 1,150 meters.

Very fast growing, with slender pseudo stems and bluish petioles. The history of this species in horticultural culture is short but rather confused. We originally introduced it as Ensete wilsonii first because it was misidentified. It was later mistaken for Musa itinerans, but then turned out to be a new species, officially described by Markku Hakkinen in 2007 as Musa yunnanensis. We also had plants for a while as Musa sp. 'Yangtze' in culture.

Although M. yunnanesis grows in the montane tropical forest, it is both shade and frost tolerant, sensitive to direct sunlight and therefore essentially an underplant. Individuals typically reach a height of about 5 to 5.25 meters as they mature. Bark on pseudo-trunks is coated with wax, which is white with a bluish tinge. The top of the leaves is also bluish, although their undersides are colored red.

Musa yunnanensis has value to local wildlife, its summer fruits are consumed by birds, bats and possibly elephants.