Fe'i banana

Fe'i bananas are very special.

They have bright red or orange skin. The inside is yellow or orange too. These bananas grow on tall plants. The stems grow straight up. Most bananas hang down, but these stand tall. People in the Pacific islands eat them. They often cook the fruit to eat it. The fruit is very good for you. It has things that help your body stay healthy. These plants are a wonderful gift from nature.

Fe'i bananas are very special plants.

Most bananas hang down from their stems. Fe'i bananas grow straight up. They have bright orange or red skin. The inside is also orange or yellow. These fruits have ridges. This makes them look a bit square.

These plants are very tall. They look like trees. But they are not trees. They are tall plants with thick stems. These stems are called pseudostems. They are made of tightly wrapped leaves. The sap in these plants is bright pink or purple. Fe'i bananas come from the Pacific islands. People moved them across the ocean long ago. They are a good food. They have a lot of beta-carotene. This is a part that helps your body make vitamin A. Many people cook the fruit before they eat it. Some people in Micronesia eat them raw. The leaves can also be used as plates. The stems can even make rafts.

This photo shows a man carrying these bananas in Tahiti.

Fe'i bananas are very special plants found in the Pacific islands. They look quite different from the yellow bananas you might see in a grocery store. These bananas have bright orange, red, or copper skins. Inside, the flesh is often yellow or orange. The fruit even has ridges that make it look a bit square.

Most people in the Pacific use them as a food called plantains. This means they are usually cooked by boiling or baking. They are very nutritious because they contain much beta-carotene. This is a substance that helps your body make vitamin A.

These plants grow in a very interesting way. They are tall, herbaceous plants that can reach very high.

Even though they look like trees, they do not have wooden trunks. Instead, they have a pseudostem, which is a stem made of tightly wrapped leaf bases. At the top, a single flowering stem grows upward. As it grows, female flowers appear to become the fruit. Finally, male flowers grow at the very top. Unlike many other bananas, the stem for Fe'i bananas stays upright. This causes the bunches of fruit to grow straight up too.

Scientists have spent a long time studying these unique plants.

A botanist named Georg E. Rumpf wrote about them in 1747. He called them Musa uranoscopos, which means "heaven-looking banana." Later, the famous scientist Carl Linnaeus gave them the name Musa troglodytarum L. There has been some confusion about the names over the years. However, experts decided in 2012 that all Fe'i varieties should use that name. This helps scientists all over the world talk about the same plant.

Fe'i bananas have a long history of traveling across the ocean. They likely started in the New Guinea area. People carried them in canoes to many different islands. We can find evidence of them in the Marquesas from around 250 BC. In Tahiti, they were being grown around 800 AD. Today, they are found from the Maluku Islands to French Polynesia. They are also found in places like the Solomon Islands and Hawai'i. Many different types, or cultivars, grow in these different island groups.

Aside from eating them, people use almost every part of the plant. The large leaves can serve as plates for cooked food. They can even be used as roofing for temporary huts. The fibers from the leaves can be turned into ropes or mats. Because the stems can float, people have used them to make rafts. The plant even has colorful sap that is pink or purple. This sap is used as a dye or even as ink. It is amazing how much one plant can do for a community.

Fe'i bananas, scientifically known as Musa × troglodytarum L., are unique cultivated plants. They are members of the genus Musa, which includes most common bananas. These plants are very different from the standard bananas and plantains we see in stores. Most common bananas come from Musa acuminata or Musa balbisiana species. Fe'i bananas belong to a different botanical group called section Callimusa. They are most famous for their striking appearance and their history in the Pacific islands.

The biology of the Fe'i banana plant is quite fascinating. They are tall, herbaceous plants that can grow very high. While they look like trees, they do not have wooden trunks. Instead, they have a pseudostem, which is a structure made of tightly wrapped leaf bases. At maturity, each pseudostem produces one flowering stem. This stem grows upward inside the pseudostem before emerging from the top. As the stem elongates, female flowers develop into the fruit. Finally, male flowers appear at the end of the stem.

Fe'i bananas have several physical traits that set them apart from other cultivars. The flowering and fruiting stem grows in an upright position. This causes the bunches of bananas to grow upward rather than drooping. The fruit itself is often squarish because it has prominent ridges. The skin is a brilliant orange, red, or copper color. Inside, the flesh is typically yellow or orange. The plant also produces highly colored sap. This sap can range from pink to bright magenta or dark purple.

Botanists have faced much confusion regarding the proper names for these plants. In 1747, the German-Dutch botanist Georg E. Rumpf described a plant called Musa uranoscopos. This name means "heaven-looking banana" and matches the Fe'i description. However, Carl Linnaeus established new naming rules in 1753. Linnaeus combined different plants under the name Musa troglodytarum L. This grouping was considered confusing by later experts. In 1917, Merrill designated Rumphius's original illustration as the lectotype for the species. Finally, in 2012, researchers concluded that all Fe'i cultivars should use the name Musa troglodytarum L.

The history of the Fe'i banana is tied to the migration of Pacific Islanders. They are believed to have originated in the New Guinea area. As people traveled across the ocean in canoes, they brought the plants with them. Evidence shows they were in the Marquesas around 250 BC. They were also being grown in Tahiti around 800 AD. Today, their distribution stretches from the Maluku Islands to French Polynesia. This includes the Society Islands, the Marquesas, and the Solomon Islands.

These bananas are a vital source of nutrition. They are high in beta-carotene, which is a precursor to vitamin A. In the Solomon Islands, one Fe'i cultivar had 6,000 μg of beta-carotene per 100 g of flesh. This is much higher than the 1,300 μg found in some non-Fe'i cultivars. Most Fe'i bananas are eaten as plantains, meaning they are cooked by boiling or baking. They are often described as delicious when served with fresh coconut cream. In Pohnpei, some types like the Karat cultivars are eaten raw when ripe.

Beyond food, the Fe'i banana plant provides many useful materials. The large leaves can be used as plates or as roofing for temporary huts. Fibers from the leaf midrib can be made into ropes for carrying fruit. Other parts of the leaves can be dried and plaited into mats. The pseudostems are buoyant, so they can be used to build temporary rafts. The plant even provides a colorful dye. The reddish sap is used as an ink because it does not fade easily in light.