What Is a Banana Plant?

The Banana Plant

Though banana plants are often tree-sized, they are actually large perennials similar to cannas or the bird-of-paradise plant. They have an underground corm, similar to that of a gladiolus, that sprouts large leaves whose bases, the sheaths, are joined together and give the appearance of a trunk. The true flower-bearing stem rises directly from the corm, shooting up through the leaf stems to bear clusters of white flowers at the top of the banana plant. These clusters are called hands and are protected by large purplish bracts, protective modified leaves. The first flowers to develop on the stem are female and the upper ones are male. After flowering, the original clump dies, but the plant spreads by rhizomes that sprout new plants.

The long, sweet yellow fruit familiar in North America and Europe is only one type of banana fruit. In fact, since the 1960s, only one variety that bears seedless fruit without the need for pollination, the Cavendish banana, has been planted for this purpose. There are also types with starchy unsweet bananas called plantains that are used like potatoes and can be boiled, baked, fried or dried and ground into flour. The immature male flowers, the rhizomes and the stem can also be used as food.

Bananas are native to Southeast Asia, China, Madagascar and Africa, though fossil records of bananas in North America have been found. The more cold-tolerant types are native to higher elevations. Botanists have classified bananas into three groups, the genera Musa, Ensete and Musella, all within the family Musaceae.

They have been used as food in their native areas for at least 4,000 years and possibly as much as 10,000 years. European explorers first tasted bananas in the 1500s but it wasn't until 1876 that they were introduced to Americans at the Philadelphia World Exposition.

Bananas should be given a rich, well-drained acid soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5 and as much warmth as possible, perhaps in a spot next to a sunny wall or protected patio. The huge leaves need a large amount of water, so regular, deep watering is essential. Wind protection will keep the leaves from becoming torn. Fertilize regularly.