Is a wild banana a banana?

Wild banana is not a banana, also known as August melon, August fried, August yellow, August sweet potato, Akebia trifoliata and so on. It is a perennial vine of Aristolochia manshuriensis, originally a royal tribute in ancient China, distributed from the Himalayas to southwestern China, mainly in Guangyuan, Sichuan, Pingwu County, Mianyang, and Guiyang, Chenzhou, Hunan. It is also found in Funiu Mountain in Luoyang, Shaanxi and Luoyang, Henan Province. Zhejiang is also commonly known as August Funiu. August melons are called in many places in Guizhou province.

Wild banana stems and branches have obvious lines, palmately compound leaves have 3-9 leaflets, petiole is slightly slender. Leaflets subleathery smooth, ovate, ovate-oblong, narrowly lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, apex acuminate or caudate-acuminate, base rounded or broadly cuneate, sometimes subtruncate, dark green above, glossy, light green below. Several flowers form a corymbose raceme with a slender pedicel. Male flowers green-white, outer sepal oblong, apex obtuse, inner one narrower, oblong-lanceolate, apex acute, petals very small, Obovate, less than 1 mm long. Female flowers purple, outer sepal ovate-oblong.

Wild bananas are ripe in August, so they are also known as August melons in Guangyuan, Sichuan Province and Pingwu County, Mianyang City. There is a local saying that August melons, September gates, so August melons will only be peeled in September and eat their inner flesh, most of which contain seeds, but they are suitable for eating their flesh, sweet and juicy, and taste similar to bananas.

Wild banana fruit shape is long and peculiar, single fruit weighs about 130 grams, the fruit cracked naturally after ripening in the eighth month of the lunar calendar, the flesh is white, fragrant, sweet and waxy, which integrates ornamental, edible, beauty, medicinal and health care functions, so it is named "Zibao". You can go up the mountain in summer to find this kind of fruit to eat, but medium well can pick it and put it in rice bran and cover it for two days. Very delicious, thick skin, peeled off can be sucked, inside yellow meat, black seeds.

Wild banana has medicinal health functions such as soothing the liver, tonifying the kidney, relieving pain, anti-inflammation, diuresis, dehumidification and so on. pharmacology mainly treats stubborn ringworm, alopecia areata, impotence, constipation and other diseases. fresh fruit is resistant to storage and transportation, and dried fruit slices can be used as medicine. it is especially suitable for planting in parks, highways, streets, courtyards, front and back houses and tourist scenic spots. Relevant experts agree that the development of this new health care fruit industry can not only beautify the environment and maintain ecological balance. It can also create wealth for the society, and the market is expected to have a better development prospect.

Wild banana "Zibao 2" is one of the precocious varieties that researchers have improved and selected for many years, with strong stress resistance and no diseases and insect pests. In the same year, the fruit was purple and red, and the largest single fruit weighed 200 grams. It matured in late July of the lunar calendar and was cultivated and managed like grapes. It was rough and easy to grow, planting 300 holes per mu, 2 plants per hole, and yielding 2500-3000 kg per mu in the full fruit period. the propagation methods are ramet or cuttings, pressing and raising seedlings with seeds.