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'Banana' palm?

18 years ago

Ok, pardon my ignorance here, but I was in Ft. Meyers yesterday and outside my hotel there were several large trees that I've never seen before. They had trunks and bark like a palm tree, but big, huge leaves that looked like banana leaves. I am pretty sure they are a type of palm, but from my window they looked like huge banana plants. These things are way cool-o, though they probably won't grow here in Atlanta. Anyway, no one at the hotel could tell me what they were, so I throw it out to you guys to figure this one out. Thanks...Sorry, no photo...

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Comments (9)

troydz
18 years ago
I've seen pictures of them in LA also.
unautre
18 years ago
Mature Giant Bird of Paradise?

Mature Traveller's "Palm" ?
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First off (not to sound petty) but palms and bananas are two different plants. It's like calling an apple an orange, simply because it's fruit picked from a tree. The two terms shouldn't be combined. Sorry, that's my peice on that. Now for the question at hand. You can wait until frost hits the foliage and needs to be removed. Cut the pseudostem back to a managable height (3'-4') and mulch with dry leaves in a wire cage. Cover with poly and remove once spring arrives. If these plants are well established, winter protection isn't nessesary really. They'll just freeze out to ground level and return to full splendor in the following season. I'm not 100% certain M. sikkimensis is as hardy. That one may need mulching just to be sure. Cheers, Barrie.
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Hi Wxman: Your Orinocco bananas look like they are slowly starting to sprout out. You might help them by temporarily pulling back that lighter-colored mulch and letting sunshine warm the dirt right around them. If you're Really Devoted, put the mulch back around them at night to help hold that warmth in! As for your palms, even the little guy that's so fried looks like he's got a good spear point starting out from the center. As with the bananas, I'd pull that mulch away in the day. And if those older leaf stems are dead, I'd cut them away and consider putting a little tomato cage or something around the plant itself. After all, you don't want someone to walk into it because they can't see the little bit that's left. But if you leave all those branches to just wrack in the wind, that can be hard on a little palm trying to get itself rooted into its new world. Best of luck; you are a devoted soul after my own heart, and I know only too well what it's like to struggle to grow plants from other zones! ~J.
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Nice plant, but its neither a palm or a banana. Just as I suspected, you have a white bird of paradise 'Strelitzia nicolai'. Don't bother dilluting the rubbing alcohol...you can use it full strength, it won't harm the plant or you. First, pick off the adult scale (brown bumps) from the leaves & stems, then gently but thoroughly wipe the underneath side of the leaves as well as the stems with a soft cloth saturated with the rubbing alcohol. Repeat this treatment every week for a month or so, and then keep a close eye on it for any adult scale to appear. It should be fine, but don't be surprised if you see the scale reappear periodically. As long as you keep it under control, it won't kill a plant that size.
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spikec
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks Autre, I think you nailed it -- Giant Bird of paradise. A couple of them I saw had what looked like green bird of pa. flowers. Here's a link for those interested...looks like it might have been taken at the same hotel!

Here is a link that might be useful: Giant Bird of Paridise
Frog_hollow_lady
18 years ago
Hello, try this ..Ensete superbum....or being the dummy I am.."rock banana"

Just an idea...
Jody
Todd_In_Texas
18 years ago
Banana Palm... ah yes. What a magical wonderful plant that would be. The best of both worlds. That reminded me of an episode of "The Simpsons" where the little girl Lisa declares she's a vegetarian and her dim-whitted father questions her:

Homer: Wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute. Lisa honey, are you saying you're *never* going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad! Those all come from the same animal!
Homer: [Chuckles] Yeah, right Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

Ha....

-Todd
Las_Palmas_Norte
18 years ago
I'm with ya Todd. It's like comparing apples & oranges. Humm, an apple-orange, what a strange fruit that would be.

Cheers, Barrie.
tlturbo2
18 years ago
I'm from Ft Myers and those are all over the place in S FL. White Bird of Paradise. Pretty cheap too. When small, they look like Travelers palms so buying one in a pot you need to be careful. Usuzlly in the other direction though. Most are birds and finding the travelers is harder.

Terry
Racer968
18 years ago
Todd,
That's one of the all time best scenes of the Simpsons. It looses some of it's effect in text but it's brilliant on TV.

Does anyone know if a travellers palm can be over-wintered like a musa?
Gabe15
18 years ago
If you say they had green flowers and large leaves, then they are most certainly Ravenala madagascariensis, aka Travelers Tree, not be confused with Giant Bird of Paradise which is Strelitzia nicolai.
{{gwi:421359}}

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