The Thai Gold Banana

Botanical Name : Musa siamensis

This is not a palm. But this young, stout, exotic version with large dark green leaves catches your immediate attention but look somewhat foreign.

It is a new tropical introduction, native to Indo-China Thailand. This rare species is related to the musa laterita except that it has an upright inflorescence which is golden yellow in colour! A very unsual colour indeed for the banana and sounds delicious already!

so near, yet so far

fruiting clump with pups

golden flower + fruits

ripen 2 weeks later

Its fruits, according to references, are small (not that small, see pic abve), yellow when ripen, edible but with seeds. Think that's a great treat for jungle survival but no like-minded city folks would go wild for bananas with seeds!!

Found another young specimen about 4ft tall that has yet to flower.

                                               a cartoon character? stick man with sombrero?

Apparently, this species can tolerate a bit of cold and does well in partial sun and fertile soil.  As a runner, adequate space should be allocated for its expanding population (pups).

p.s. just only noticed the 'face' upon uploading pics for this post. will leave it to one's imagination...