Fiji.
29 June 1882
My dear Sir.
By the s.s. "Suva" leaving to day for Melbourne I send you the fruit spike of an enormous Musa which yesterday I found growing wild in the mountains. It is of the Musa troglodytarum variety, "Soanka" in the vernacular — Some time since I gave Consul Henny a spike of the ordinary (and described) one — which I believe reached you.
The fruit was small — say 3. or 4 inches long — & of a deep red colour.
The fruit of this one is enormous some are 11" long and 13" in circumference.
The plant is tall and strong dark green leaves & narrower than in the cultivated varieties. To day my men shall seek a specimen with flowers and if successful I will forward them via Sydney by next mail —
I forgot to say that the fruit spike stands quite erect, as in the smaller variety. It is certainly a marvellously strange object growing. A native who saw the fruit brought in last night said that there were bigger ones, & different shaped — being nearly round like a coco nut — in his island "Gau"
He shall have no peace 'til he produces a sample.
This variety I find is called in Fijian "Soanka-Thula"
Believe me
my dear Sir
Faithfully yours
John B Thurston
Musa troglodytarum
Please cite as “FVM-82-06-29,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on