12-01-2018, 09:28 PM
A couple more observations...
The color of the bulbous part of the banana (red) is a good match for the VMS, but some species of Petasites do have reddish roots and I've seen some that are quite jug-like (rounded).
But... there's typically only one stalk coming from each banana bulb, and the "tuft" of the dead flower on the end of the banana doesn't look like the VMS drawing. Also, only someone who had actually seen a growing banana tree would have drawn it with a tuft on the end. These fall off when they are harvested and transported. It seems unlikely that someone describing the plant for someone else to draw would mention the tuft—it's the fruit that is of interest and the tuft is a minor detail that quickly disappears.
Petasites plants do have several "cut points" on each tuber, where the leaves are harvested, and the flowers do have this general shape (some species more than others).
Also note the roundness of the VMS leaves, not common to banana, but common to a number of Petasites species.
The banana flower is quite different from the shape of the fruit so the drawing is not likely to be banana flowers, it looks more like the fruit. Bananas don't typically have fruit stalks that are straight and high above the leaves. As soon as there is fruit, even small fingerlings, they sag downward.
The color of the bulbous part of the banana (red) is a good match for the VMS, but some species of Petasites do have reddish roots and I've seen some that are quite jug-like (rounded).
But... there's typically only one stalk coming from each banana bulb, and the "tuft" of the dead flower on the end of the banana doesn't look like the VMS drawing. Also, only someone who had actually seen a growing banana tree would have drawn it with a tuft on the end. These fall off when they are harvested and transported. It seems unlikely that someone describing the plant for someone else to draw would mention the tuft—it's the fruit that is of interest and the tuft is a minor detail that quickly disappears.
Petasites plants do have several "cut points" on each tuber, where the leaves are harvested, and the flowers do have this general shape (some species more than others).
Also note the roundness of the VMS leaves, not common to banana, but common to a number of Petasites species.
The banana flower is quite different from the shape of the fruit so the drawing is not likely to be banana flowers, it looks more like the fruit. Bananas don't typically have fruit stalks that are straight and high above the leaves. As soon as there is fruit, even small fingerlings, they sag downward.