Yunnan and Bananas

Yunnan, as is its custom, keeps bombarding us with yet another botanical discovery — this time with the official classification of Musa dulongjiangensis as a new species of wild banana.

The rare banana was documented along the Dulong River in the west of the province, where it dwells on subtropical forest slopes, in conditions of partial shade and high humidity. The new species also stands out for its dark-purple bracts and the reddish stripes at the bases of its inflorescences.

The discovery underscores Yunnan's standing as China's most important biological hub for the distribution of wild bananas, which includes some thirty distinct species. These wild species hold more than theoretical scientific importance, for they may serve as a critical gene pool for the future of global agriculture, thanks to their resistance to cold and shade, and especially their heightened resistance to pests — traits lacking in some commercial banana varieties (the Gros Michel, as we recall, vacated its place for the familiar Cavendish in the wake of Panama disease).

The description of the new species highlights the need to continue conservation and research policies in the eastern Himalaya, Yunnan included, as incorporating wild banana species into genetic improvement programs may secure the resilience of the future banana market.

And as a glorious finale — the province's most beloved banana is, as we recall, that golden lotus banana, in fact a separate genus with a single species. This marvelous banana, whose flower is unique in shape and color and stands upright facing the sun, is a vulnerable species in the wild, but today is in fact widespread as an ornamental plant throughout northwestern Yunnan, and is naturally especially beloved in the gardens of Buddhist institutions.