Banana cultivar groups
Encyclopedia
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
and plantain
Plantain
Plantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...
cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s are hybrids and polyploids of the wild, seeded bananas Musa acuminata
Musa acuminata
Musa acuminata is a species of wild banana native to Southeast Asia. It is the progenitor of modern edible bananas, along with Musa balbisiana. First cultivated by humans around 8000 years ago, it is one of the earliest examples of domesticated plants.-Taxonomy and nomenclature:Musa acuminata...
and Musa balbisiana
Musa balbisiana
Musa balbisiana is a species of wild banana native to South Asia. It is one of the ancestors of modern cultivated bananas along with Musa acuminata. It grows lush leaves in clumps and grows with a more upright habit than most cultivated bananas. Flowers grow in inflorescences coloured red to...
. They are almost always seedless (parthenocarpic) and hence sterile, so they are propagated vegetatively
Vegetative reproduction
Vegetative reproduction is a form of asexual reproduction in plants. It is a process by which new individuals arise without production of seeds or spores...
. They are classified according to a genome-based system introduced by Ernest Cheesman, Norman Simmonds, and Ken Shepherd.
'A' refers to the genotype
Genotype
The genotype is the genetic makeup of a cell, an organism, or an individual usually with reference to a specific character under consideration...
of Musa acuminata, while 'B' represents the genotype of Musa balbisiana. Repetition of any of these genotypes represents polyploidy
Polyploidy
Polyploid is a term used to describe cells and organisms containing more than two paired sets of chromosomes. Most eukaryotic species are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes — one set inherited from each parent. However polyploidy is found in some organisms and is especially common...
, while a mixture of both represents hybridization. Polyploids of Musa acuminata are usually dessert bananas while polyploids of Musa balbisiana and hybrids of the two are usually plantains or cooking bananas.
AA group
- Diploid Musa acuminataMusa acuminataMusa acuminata is a species of wild banana native to Southeast Asia. It is the progenitor of modern edible bananas, along with Musa balbisiana. First cultivated by humans around 8000 years ago, it is one of the earliest examples of domesticated plants.-Taxonomy and nomenclature:Musa acuminata...
Wild banana - Chingan banana
- Lacatan bananaLacatan bananaLacatan bananas , are diploid banana cultivars from the Philippines. It is one of the most common banana cultivars in the Philippines, along with the Latundan and Saba bananas.-Taxonomy and Nomenclature:...
- Lady Finger bananaLady Finger bananaLady Finger bananas are diploid cultivars of Musa acuminata. Their fruits are small, thin-skinned, and very sweet....
(Sugar banana) - Pisang jari buaya (Crocodile fingers banana)
- Señorita bananaSeñorita bananaSeñorita bananas are diploid cultivars of the banana Musa acuminata originating from the Philippines...
(Monkoy, Arnibal banana, Cuarenta dias, Cariñosa, Pisang Empat Puluh Hari, Pisang Lampung) - Sinwobogi banana
AAA group
- Triploid Musa acuminataMusa acuminataMusa acuminata is a species of wild banana native to Southeast Asia. It is the progenitor of modern edible bananas, along with Musa balbisiana. First cultivated by humans around 8000 years ago, it is one of the earliest examples of domesticated plants.-Taxonomy and nomenclature:Musa acuminata...
Wild banana - Cavendish bananaCavendish bananaThe Dwarf Cavendish banana is a banana cultivar originally from Vietnam and China. It became the primary replacement for the Gros Michel banana in the 1950s after crops of the latter were devastated by the Panama disease. The name 'Dwarf Cavendish' is in reference to the height of the pseudostem,...
(Dwarf Cavendish banana) - Dwarf Red banana
- Giant Cavendish banana (Williams)
- Gros Michel banana
- Grand Nain (Chiquita banana)
- Masak Hijau banana
- Red bananaRed bananaRed bananas, also known as Red Dacca bananas in Australia, are a variety of banana with reddish-purple skin. They are smaller and plumper than the common Cavendish banana. When ripe, raw red bananas have a flesh that is cream to light pink in color. They are also softer and sweeter than the yellow...
(Red Dacca banana) - Robusta banana
- East African Highland bananasEast African Highland bananasEast African Highland bananas are triploid banana cultivars originating from East Africa. They are a staple food crop in Uganda and other east African countries and are used to make Matoke....
(AAA-EA subgroup)
AAAA group
- Tetraploid Musa acuminataMusa acuminataMusa acuminata is a species of wild banana native to Southeast Asia. It is the progenitor of modern edible bananas, along with Musa balbisiana. First cultivated by humans around 8000 years ago, it is one of the earliest examples of domesticated plants.-Taxonomy and nomenclature:Musa acuminata...
Wild banana - Bodles Altafort banana
- Golden Beauty banana
AAB group
- Black French banana
- Bungaoisan banana
- Celat banana
- Dwarf French plantain
- French plantain
- Giant banana
- Green French banana
- Laknao banana
- Latundan bananaLatundan bananaLatundan bananas , are triploid hybrid banana cultivars from the Philippines...
(Silk banana, Apple banana) - Maqueño banana
- Mysore banana
- Pink French banana
- Pisang Serbu
- Pome banana
- Popoulu banana
- Prata-anã (Dwarf Brazilian banana, Dwarf Prata)
- Red plantain
- Rhino Horn bananaRhino Horn BananaRhino Horn bananas, also called Rhino Horn plantains or African Rhino Horn, are hybrid banana cultivars from Africa. It produces strongly curved and elongated edible bananas which can grow to a length of two feet, making them have the longest fruits among banana cultivars.-Taxonomy:The Rhino Horn...
- Tiger banana
ABB group
- Blue Java bananaBlue Java bananaThe Blue Java is a hardy, cold tolerant banana cultivar known for its sweet aromatic fruit which is said to have an ice cream like consistency and flavor reminiscent of vanilla.-Taxonomy and Nomenclature:The Blue Java banana is a triploid hybrid of the seeded banana...
(Ice Cream banana) - Bluggoe banana
- Saba bananaSaba bananaSaba banana, also known as Cardaba banana, is a triploid hybrid banana cultivar originating from the Philippines. It is primarily a cooking banana though it can also be eaten raw. It is one of the most important banana varieties in Philippine cuisine....
- Silver Bluggoe banana
See also
- BananaBananaBanana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
- MusaMusa (genus)Musa is one of three genera in the family Musaceae; it includes bananas and plantains. There are over 50 species of Musa with a broad variety of uses....
- Musa acuminataMusa acuminataMusa acuminata is a species of wild banana native to Southeast Asia. It is the progenitor of modern edible bananas, along with Musa balbisiana. First cultivated by humans around 8000 years ago, it is one of the earliest examples of domesticated plants.-Taxonomy and nomenclature:Musa acuminata...
- Musa balbisianaMusa balbisianaMusa balbisiana is a species of wild banana native to South Asia. It is one of the ancestors of modern cultivated bananas along with Musa acuminata. It grows lush leaves in clumps and grows with a more upright habit than most cultivated bananas. Flowers grow in inflorescences coloured red to...
- PlantainPlantainPlantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...
- information portal on banana cultivars