Is wild banana actually a banana? The latest interpretation is here
Wild banana is not a banana. It is also known as August melon, August crack, August yellow, August zha, threeleaf akebia, etc. It is a perennial vine plant of the genus Akebia in the family Lardizabalaceae. It was originally a tribute to the ancient Chinese imperial court and is distributed from the Himalayas to southwestern China, mainly in Guangyuan, Sichuan, and most valleys of Pingwu County, Mianyang City, and Guiyang, Chenzhou, Hunan. It is also found in the Funiu Mountains of Luanchuan, Luoyang, Shaanxi and Henan. In Zhejiang it is also commonly called August zha, and in many places in Guizhou Province it is called August melon.
The stems and branches of wild banana have obvious linear markings. The palmately compound leaves have 3 to 9 leaflets, and the petioles are somewhat slender. The leaflets are nearly leathery and smooth, ovate, ovate-oblong, narrowly lanceolate, or linear-lanceolate, with acuminate or caudate-acuminate tips and rounded or broadly cuneate bases, sometimes nearly truncate, dark green and glossy above, light green below. The flowers are several in corymb-like racemes, and the common peduncle is slender. The male flowers are greenish white, with the outer whorl of sepals oblong and obtuse at the tip, and the inner whorl narrower, oblong-lanceolate, and acute at the tip; the petals are very small, obovate, less than 1 mm long. The female flowers are purple, with the outer whorl of sepals ovate-oblong.
Because wild banana ripens in August, it is also called August melon in Guangyuan, Sichuan, and Pingwu County, Mianyang City. Local people have a saying: August melon, September crack. So August melon only splits open in September, and people eat its inner flesh. Most of the inside of the peel contains seeds, but the fruit pulp is suitable for eating. It is sweet, juicy, and similar in texture to banana.
The fruit shape of wild banana is long, round, and unusual. A single fruit weighs about 130 grams. After the fruit ripens in the eighth lunar month, it naturally splits open. The flesh is white, fragrant, sweet, and glutinous. It combines ornamental, edible, beauty, medicinal, and health-care functions, and is therefore named “Zibao”. In summer, you can go up the mountain to find this fruit to eat. It can be picked when about 80% ripe and placed in rice bran for two days before eating. It is very delicious, with a thick skin, and can be sucked out after peeling. Inside is yellow flesh and black seeds.
Wild banana has medicinal and health-care functions such as soothing the liver, tonifying the kidney, relieving pain, reducing inflammation, promoting diuresis, and removing dampness. Pharmacologically, it is mainly used for conditions such as stubborn tinea, alopecia areata, impotence, and constipation. Fresh fruit stores and transports well, and dried fruit slices can be directly used as medicine. It is especially suitable for planting in parks, along highways, on streets, in courtyards, in front of and behind houses, and in scenic areas. Relevant experts agree that developing this new health-care medicinal fruit industry can both beautify the environment and maintain ecological balance, while also creating wealth for society. Market expectations and development prospects are relatively good.
Wild banana “Zibao No. 2” is one of the very early-maturing improved varieties selected and bred by researchers after many years of cultivation, improvement, and selection. It has especially strong stress resistance and no pests or diseases. Planted in the same year, it bears fruit in the same year. The fruit color is purple-red, and the largest single fruit weighs up to 200 grams. It ripens in late July of the lunar calendar. It is cultivated and managed on trellises like grapes. It is coarse-growing and easy to grow, with 300 holes planted per mu and 2 plants per hole. In full fruit period, the yield per mu is 2500 to 3000 kg. Propagation methods are division or cuttings, layering, and raising seedlings from seeds.