NSW DPI senior regulatory inspector, Terry Grant, destroys a seeded banana plant on the North Coast. The bananas have about 50 small pebble-like seeds in each piece of fruit. If birds and flying foxes eat the fruit, they can spread the seeds which remain viable for years.

Seeded bananas that have sprung up on the North Coast are more than just an unappealing novelty, according to NSW DPI, they’re highly illegal in banana growing areas and need to be destroyed.

NSW DPI district horticulturist Arthur Akehurst said a plant with seeded bananas has been reported in Lismore, causing concern about the potential spread of banana plants as weeds.

“We have an ongoing problem with a small patch of seeded bananas near Tumbulgum, north of Murwillumbah,” Mr Ake-hurst said. “Once a seeded bunch matures, if birds and flying foxes eat the fruit they can spread the seeds, which remain viable for years,” he said.

“With the patch at Tumbulgum we regularly get plants popping up in the bush because of the seed bank that’s already there.”

Mr Akehurst said the more recent report of a seeded banana plant at Lismore raised concerns that another area would become an ongoing problem.

“All we can do is destroy any seeded plants we find and go back regularly to destroy others that emerge over time. If one plant matures, we run the risk of the cycle starting over again.”

Mr Akehurst said seeds had been bred out of bananas planted in Australia.

“It’s not just that consumers don’t like fruit with pips, it’s to stop the uncontrolled spread of plants.

“Planting bananas in NSW is highly regulated – you have to use planting material like a sucker from an existing plant and you have to get a permit from NSW DPI to do that legally.

“Banana plants left uncontrolled in the wild or in backyard situations can be sources of disease with the potential to impact significantly on the commercial banana growing industry.”

Mr Akehurst said seeded bananas were used only in highly-controlled scientific breeding projects that sought to cross fertilise and achieve new varieties.

He said the seeded bananas from Lismore were similar to the Ducasse variety, but distinctly different from the more common consumer types such as the Cavendish, Ladyfinger or Goldfinger bananas.

“They have about 50 small pebble-like seeds in each banana which makes them unappealing for consumers and a problem for growers,” he said.

Mr Akehurst urged anyone who knows the whereabouts of seeded banana plants to report them NSW DPI at Murwillumbah.

Contact Arthur Akehurst, (02) 6672 2770