BANANA CULTURE TN HAWAII 41 
since it produces small fruits and does not ripen evenly. One plant 
of the variety, found in the Hilo district, had its fruiting stem 
divided in an attempt to produce six separate bunches of fruit. 
Plants.— Erect, 10 to 20 feet tall; trunk, 8 to 10 feet long, basal diameter. 10 
inches; color, green tinged with pink and splotched with brown; leaves, about 
7 feet long, greatest width 24 inches, green above, lighter green below; petioles, 
stout. 2y 2 feet long, deeply grooved and margins reddish. The clump suckers 
freely and has a handsome ornamental appearance. 
Flowers. — Pistillate flower. 11.5 centimeters long; ovary, sharply 3 to 5 
angled, blunt at poin* of style attachment, pediceled at base, light apple green 
color: style, including stigma, 3.8 centimeters long; perianth, whitish, washed 
with pale red, 4 centimeters long, 5-pointed, each tipped with orange, the two 
extreme. millimeters long, the central, broad and shorter, and the two inter- 
mediate, small and more erect ; petal, iridescent, keel deeply depressed below 
apicula, edges rolled inward ; apicula. turned inward ; stamens, 5, three short 
and two longer, extending beyond the stigma ; anthers, imperfect ; style, slim, 
whitish ; stigma, yellowish to brownish, 5-lobed. 
Staminate flower, 0.7 centimeters long; ovary portion, 1.0 centimeters long; 
perianth, 5 centimeters long, whitish, washed with light red, apex tipped as 
with the pistillate form ; petal, small, bladdery, iridescent, dimpled below 
apicula, the latter pointed, erect ; stamens, 5, shorter than perianth ; and pistil, 
long ; anthers, long ; pistil, slim, whitish yellowed at the flattened G-lobed 
stigma. 
Fruit. — Bunch of 9 or more hands, the larger 12 to 18 fruits, the smaller. 
9 to 12; individual fruits, 3 to 5 angled, 4 to 5 inches long, 1 to IVj inches in 
diameter, weight 3 to 5 ounces ; skin, medium, bright yellow, easily removed : 
pulp, firm, light salmon yellow ; core, indistinct ; seedless ; flavor, mild, subacid 
to sweet. 
PUHI 
The Puhi variety (No. 35) grows best in the moist woodlands at 
2,000 to 3,000 feet elevation. The Hawaiian name " Puhi " is inter- 
preted as meaning " eellike," the fruit presenting a rather twisted 
appearance during a period of early development. The variety was 
studied growing wild in the woods on the ranch of Albert Hu, of 
South Kona, Hawaii. No flowers were obtainable at the time the 
study was made. 
Plants. — 15 to 20 feet tall; some of the larger with trunks 8 to 10 feet tall; 
upright, green ; large, upright leaves, 8 feet long ; petioles, green ; blades, wide 
at base, tapering to apex. 
Fruit. — Bunches, small to medium; arched stem, long and slim. At maturity 
the fruits fill out and become bright yellow in color, with possibly more 
prominent angle ridges and pointed apex. The skin is thick ; pulp, firm, yellow ; 
core, distinct. A fair cooking banana. 
The Eka variety is very similar to several other varieties of the 
Maoli group. Its leading character of identification is the color of 
its fruit, which has a reddish cast at or immediately after flowering 
time. The color is said to have given rise to the Hawaiian name 
" Eka.'' and is soon replaced by a rich dark green which prevails 
until the fruit begins to ripen. At full maturity the fruit becomes a 
clear, waxy yellow. The flowers are white, but are considerably 
washed with red. which rapidly darkens within a few hours after 
they are released from under the bract. The plant more closely 
resembles Manaiula than does any other variety of the Maoli group. 
Plants. — Erect. 10 to 20 feet tall ; trunks, light green with tinges of red ; 
leaves, about 7 feet long, 24 inches greatest width; petiole and midrib on under 
side of leaf washed with pale red. 
