Hello trfanatic,

Musa Basjoo is seldom polinated, and in case it is polinated, the fruits are full of seeds and is not edible.
This is an ornamental banana.

Hello bananaman1,

Your report is really interesting!

1. If it were Basjoo, it seldom pollinates and does not
bear fruits to turn yellow with no seeds and sweet. It
certainly bear fruits that last only a few months and
then dry. So your plant is not consered to be Basjoo.
It should be something else.

2. But the strange thing is that this banana overwintered
in zone 5 in the ground. Excepting Basjoo and Musa
Sikkimensis, no other bananas can overwinter in zone 5
in the ground. Is there really zone 5?? Houston should
be more warmer, isn't it? If it is not zone 5 and is
more warmer, this banana could be one of the edible
bananas.

My Rajapuri overwinter outside in UK zone 9, which may not be very cold but is dark murky and wet all winter. UK zone 9 is not comparable with US zone 9 except in frost expectation. We have far less sun here in the UK zone 9 than US zone 9.

Chini champa sometimes overwinters here.

M Itinerans (yunnan) often overwinters here but it is not that unless it is 30ft high.

M Sikkimensis overwinters here but doesn't flower very readily and has seeds.

Musella Lasiocarpa overwinters here but does not have proper bananas unless you have two flowers timed just right for fertilization and then they are full of seeds.

Could be "Helen's hybrid"

My guess is one of the top two above.

Orinoco is suprisingly hardy too.

Sorry for any confusion. Yes, I was definitely in Zone 5 (St. Louis, MO.)where this plant overwintered in the ground. I am in Houston NOW (Zone 9). I guess I didn't really make that clear. When I finally cut off the hand of fruit it took weeks for them to turn yellow and then, only a very few did. If it fruits again this year I will try to post a few pics. It is already about 8-10 feet tall so hopefully it will fruit. I did consider M. sikkimensis but I really don't feel like that's what it is. They really don't look alike to me. Any chance of basjoo hybridizing with another fruiting variety? I am a horticulturist by trade, so I understand how these things work and I do have an unknown (to me at least) fruiting banana about 4 feet from my "basjoo" but I can't remember if they were flowering at the same time or not.

Hi bananaman1,
Now I do understand the situations of the banana that over-
wintered in St.Louis(zone 5) and was then transferred to
the present place in Houston(zone 9).

Now the bananas that could overwinter in the ground in
zone 5 should be very much limitted like Musa Basjoo, Musa
Sikkimensis, Musa Chinese Yellow and most probablly Musa
Helen's hybrid all of which are seeded and not edible.
But it is told that the fruit of Helen's hybrid is sweet
although full of seedes because this is a hybrid between
Sikkimensis and Musa Chini Champa that is a sweet Indian
banana.

Do you remember the color of the flower bud? If it was
yellow, it should be Basjoo. If it was red-purple color,
it is not Basjoo and is another species.
It could be Musa Helen's hybrid, but this banana has been
introduced quite recently and so I think quite a few people
taste the fruits.

In any case this is a very ineresting story!

I can't remember if the bloom is yellow or reddish. I think it's reddish, though. I'll have to look through some of my photos and see.

Hi bananaman1,
The color of the bloom is the keyword whether it is Basjoo
or another species.
If you think it was reddish, it is not Basjoo. But it can
not be directly identified what it actually is as there are
some candidates under zone 5 as I mentioned in the above
post.
So if it is possible, check it through your pix.

Hi Bananaman,

You wrote:-

I took a pup with me and it has flowered each year

I am puzzled! Are you saying the same pup flowers every single year?

No, the same pup does not flower each year. I meant the "clump", as each individual stalk dies after it flowers and fruits. I did some extensive research on the net last night and I have determined that I definitely do not have M. basjoo. I looked at one of my really good photos I have of what I thought was basjoo all this time and there is one or two remaining bracts (reddish) along with a very nice hand of well developed fruit. I noticed on some of the pictures of basjoo that I saw on the internet that basjoos bananas are little and dinky like most other seeded forms out there and its bloom is unmistakable yellow. So now I'm wondering if maybe I have M. sikkimensis? When I get time (and can figure out how) I'll post the pic. that I have of what I thought was basjoo and we'll see what everyone thinks.

Thanks for all the response I've been getting to this little mystery. I love trying to figure stuff like this out. Maybe I should have been a botanist instead of a hortiulcturist! Nah, that would get too boring!

I hope it's sikkimensis! I just bought one and am hoping it will survive the winter outside! I've had good luck so far with basjoos for the last 3 years, so this is my next challenge. So far I like the fact that the leaves are more wind-resistant - I live in a wind tunnel!

What is a basjoo? Oh I wouldnt know as the NEW WORLD ORDER wont let me grow any!

Really, are the trilateralist Commission/International Banking System stopping you or is it merely that you have deep pockets and can't reach your money? Somehow I think the New World Order is more interested in controlling oil than controlling basjoo.

Perhaps the asylum won't let you have a growing plot?

No one else gave me my basjoo. I had to buy them. Now I have lots of nice big ones and lots and lots of pups and I'm not giving you any because I don't like your attitude.

Are you autistic or do you have a personality disorder?