BLEACHED BANANA LEAF

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                     BLEACHED BANANA LEAF

 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

14/VIII/2024

 

The other day as usual, I was out with my camera to capture anything that came my way. The day one doesn’t have an agenda or a specific focus, subjects appear before you out of the blue. It can be called beginner's luck and luck was on my side.

There was a clump of banana trees growing in one of the houses down the lane. Unfortunately, we had multiple tenants staying there. Most of them stayed without families, thus the ten odd banana trees in their garden were in a state of neglect. A few of them bore fruit but the quality was poor due to lack of looking after. This house had been vacant for about three months.

In the summer this year, those plants began to yellow and die. The horticulture people were quick to axe them and clean that small area infront of the home. Once the monsoon started last month, there were fresh sprouts of new Banana plants. Within a month, they are now quite high like full grown plants. Every plant that had been chopped has given birth to a new life.

The dense clump caught my attention. In that, there was this absolutely gorgeous ‘white banana leaf’. Some botanist would be able to give an answer to this as to why this happens. All the other leaves adjacent to it and in the closely located plants were green. Only this one looked variegated and bleached. What was this phenomenon?

Could it be mutation of the genes in the new plant? But then why only one leaf, why not the others. Could it be the lack of sunlight that photosynthesis was not taking place? That too was not true as this house is East facing and the sun shines bright till at least 2pm.

I am sharing photos taken. Will anyone explain this mystery of the bleached banana leaf? I wonder!!!!!!

 

JAI HIND

© ® NOEL ELLIS 





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