Wild banana (August melon) is the fruit of Akebia and Akebia trifoliata. It was originally a tribute of the ancient royal family in China, and it is a rare wild tree species. There are two species of this genus, Cotinus coggygria and Cotinus coggygria, which are distributed from Himalaya to southwest China.

They are mainly distributed in Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Hubei Province, Huixian County in Longnan, Sichuan Province, Dazhou, Aba Prefecture in Sichuan Province, Guangyuan, Pingwu County in Mianyang City, Guiyang in Chenzhou City, Hunan Province, Luoyang in Henan Province, Funiu Mountain in Luanchuan, Zhejiang Province and other places. The common name is "August Ba [sound: zhà]", which is distributed in many places in Guizhou Province and is often called August Melon (Niugua). Perennial vines that grow in the Woods. Anhui area is also called August bombing. Hunan calls it "yellow wax" and "cow's balls".

Variety introduction: Shennongjia wild banana is a wild banana variety growing in Shennongjia, Hubei Province. Shennongjia people named bananas Shennongjia. Because of its maturity in August, it is also called August melon in Dazhou, Guangyuan and Pingwu County of Mianyang City. There is a local saying that melons are fried in August and pierced in September. So melons in August will peel off their skins and eat the meat inside in September. Most of the peel contains seeds, but it is suitable for eating its pulp, which is sweet and juicy and tastes like bananas.

Propagation techniques of August melon

1, seed propagation: from September to 10, when the fruit of August melon is ripe, pick the fruit and eat the pulp, and leave the seeds for timely autumn sowing. First, the seeds are washed with alkaline water, rinsed with clear water, drained and dried. The seeds were stored in the sand for 50-70 days around the lunar calendar 165438+ 10, and planted in the sorted seedbed in time at the beginning of February of the following spring. Seed propagation is simple and easy, and the cultivated seedlings bear fruit late, usually after 3 years. Generally not used for production.

2. Buried propagation: In August, the stems of zucchini have strong germination ability. Select 1 ~ 2-year-old vines buried in human soil, and 1 month can take root and reproduce all year round. Generally, it can blossom and bear fruit in the second year after planting.

3. Propagation by splitting roots: propagation by splitting roots is carried out in August before germination in early spring. A bag of many August melons is divided into many plants from the roots by hand. Under the condition of not pruning or pruning vines, the fruit of the same year will be planted in the same year.

4. Cutting propagation: August melons can be cut all year round. Choose robust, pest-free 1 ~ 2-year-old branches, cut them into 10 cm long branches and cut them into sorted seedbeds, and pay attention to water damage, shading and drought prevention. If conditions permit, branches and vines can be soaked with ABT2 rooting powder for cutting, and the survival rate can be increased to 100%.