Monthly Archives: December 2008

Just yesterday, I received yet another email message from Keneric Ng, a Plant Information Officer from the National Parks Board (NParks) of Singapore that shares with me an interesting sight he saw at HortPark. He witnessed the relatively well-known but intriguing habit of an ornamental banana, Musa velutina, where the skin of its ripe fruits has the ability to peel on its own to reveal the white flesh beneath.  

The specimen of M. velutina that is planted in the Floral Walk leading to HortPark.

Musa velutina is commonly known as the Velvet-Pink Banana or Self-peeling Banana. The common names, Keneric shared in his email, are so valid and explain it all. In fact, the Latin specific name ‘velutina’ has the meaning of ”velvety”. It is so named because the whole infructescence is covered with short trichomes (hairs), and naturally the fruits (i.e. banana’s skin) possessed the same velvety texture too.

Both are ornamental in their own right – M. velutina‘s inflorescence (left) and a bunch of purple, velvety fruits (right).

Musa velutina has two facets of beauty. First , it bears beautiful flowers that feature bright pink coloured bracts. They are held upright and contrast starkly against its jade green foliage. Second, unlike the many plain and green coloured fruits borne by many common ornamental bananas such as Musa laterita, M. coccinea (M. uranoscopus) and M. ornata, the fruits of M. velutina are pinkish purple in colour. A bunch of fruits can certainly can rival with its own flowers in terms of beauty and for attention from its grower.

The pink coloured inflorescence of M. velutina is extremely attractive.

When ripe, the fruits of  M. velutina curiously splits open to reveal the glaring white flesh inside. Musa velutina is a species banana and therefore has seeds, unlike the seedless hybrids that we encounter as cooking plantains and dessert fruits. The seeds of M. velutina are typical of a Musa as they are numerous, hard and black. 

The fruits of M. velutina that split – don’t they look like stars?

It is interesting to note that this is the only common ornamental banana that is seen locally that splits open its fruits when they are ripe. Musa laterita, M. coccinea (M. uranoscopus) and M. ornata are not noted to do this! Perhaps it is a way that this species of banana use to attract and invite animals such as birds to eat its fruits and help to disperse its seeds. The fruits that have split open are quite attractive on their own. The pointed flaps of the skin of an unpeeled fruit reflex backwards and that make each one of them look like a star!

The fruit of the Musa velutina – it is obviously very seedy!

The fruit of M. velutina is not exactly edible. Keneric did a taste test and shared that it is not because it is poisonous, but there are so many seeds in each fruit that makes each one of them really difficult to consume. The seeds are actually visible even without bruising the flesh of each fruit. Keneric described that eating a fruit of M. velutina is akin to eating a custard apple – he had to suck whatever pulp he can from the seeds. It is not exactly tasty but nevertheless, he picked up some mild banana-sweetness in it still.

A closer look at the numerous black seeds extracted from a ripe fruit of M. velutina. 

As Keneric was going around to document on the M. velutina at the Floral Walk of HortPark, many curious visitors, including a child with his mother, walked by and were fascinated by what they saw and they asked many questions such as ”Is that a banana? Why is it white? Does banana spilt? Are those seeds? (when they saw Keneric dissected the fruits on site).”

Keneric later passed some seeds to that inquisitive boy and told him to show his teacher the discovery he has made during his holidays. Being able to witness the pretty spilt fruits of  M. velutina already made his day and this little interaction with the boy kind of made it twice. As we can see, plants and gardens in Singapore have an important educational role to play, on top of beautifying the surroundings.