A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Musa. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing them from dessert bananas. The fruit is variable in size, color, and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind, which may have a variety of colors when ripe. The fruits grow upward in clusters near the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless (parthenocarp) bananas come from two wild species – Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. Most cultivated bananas are M. acuminata, M. balbisiana, or hybrids of the two.
Musaceae is a family of flowering plants composed of three genera with about 91 known species, placed in the order Zingiberales. The family is native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. The plants have a large herbaceous growth habit with leaves with overlapping basal sheaths that form a pseudostem making some members appear to be woody trees. In most treatments, the family has three genera, Musa, Musella and Ensete. Cultivated bananas are commercially important members of the family, and many others are grown as ornamental plants.
Malus is a genus of about 32–57 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples and wild apples.
Musa is one of three genera in the family Musaceae. The genus includes 83 species of flowering plants producing edible bananas and plantains. Though they grow as high as trees, banana and plantain plants are not woody and their apparent "stem" is made up of the bases of the huge leaf stalks. Thus, they are technically gigantic herbaceous plants. Musa species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the giant leopard moth and other Hypercompe species, including H. albescens, H. eridanus, and H. icasia.
Musella lasiocarpa, commonly known as Chinese dwarf banana, golden lotus banana or Chinese yellow banana, is the sole species in the genus Musella. It is thus a close relative of bananas, and also a member of the family Musaceae.
Musa basjoo, known variously as Japanese banana, Japanese fibre banana or hardy banana, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the banana family Musaceae. It was previously thought to have originated in the Ryukyu islands of southern Japan, from where it was first described in cultivation, but is now known to have originated in subtropical southern China, where it is also widely cultivated, with wild populations found in Sichuan province. Its specific name is derived from its Japanese common name, bashō (芭蕉).
Rhino Horn bananas, also called Rhino Horn plantains or African Rhino Horn, are hybrid banana cultivars from Africa. It produces strongly curved and elongated edible bananas which can grow to a length of two feet, the longest fruits among banana cultivars.
Musa acuminata is a species of banana native to Southern Asia, its range comprising the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Many of the modern edible dessert bananas are from this species, although some are hybrids with Musa balbisiana. First cultivated by humans around 10 kya, it is one of the early examples of domesticated plants.
Musa ornata, the flowering banana, is one of more than 50 species of banana in the genus Musa of the family Musaceae. Most of these species are large tropical evergreen perennials, mainly from lowland areas with high temperature and humidity. Musa ornata originated in southeast Asia, and is cultivated for its commercial and ornamental value. The fruit is attractive but tends to be inedible.
Saba banana is a triploid hybrid (ABB) banana cultivar originating from the Philippines. It is primarily a cooking banana, though it can also be eaten raw. It is one of the most important banana varieties in Philippine cuisine. It is also sometimes known as the "cardaba banana", though the latter name is more correctly applied to the cardava, a very similar cultivar also classified within the saba subgroup.
Fe'i bananas are cultivated plants in the genus Musa, used mainly for their fruit. They are very distinct in appearance and origin from the majority of bananas and plantains currently grown. Found mainly in the islands of the Pacific, particularly French Polynesia, Fe'i bananas have skins which are brilliant orange to red in colour with yellow or orange flesh inside. They are usually eaten cooked and have been an important food for Pacific Islanders, moving with them as they migrated across the ocean. Most are high in beta-carotene.
Roscoea auriculata is a perennial herbaceous plant occurring in the eastern Himalayas, in Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal and Sikkim. Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but R. auriculata, like other species of Roscoea, grows in much colder mountainous regions. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental plant in gardens.
Roscoea cautleyoides is a perennial herbaceous plant occurring in the Sichuan and Yunnan provinces of China. The scientific name is also spelt Roscoea cautleoides. Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but R. cautleyoides, like other species of Roscoea, grows in much colder mountainous regions. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental plant in gardens.
Roscoea humeana is a species of flowering plant in the family Zingiberaceae. It is a perennial occurring in the Sichuan and Yunnan provinces of China. Most members of the ginger family, to which it belongs, are tropical, but R. humeana, like other species of Roscoea, grows in much colder mountainous regions. It is also grown as an ornamental plant in gardens.
Roscoea purpurea is a perennial herbaceous plant occurring in the Himalayas, particularly Nepal. Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but species of Roscoea grow in much colder mountainous regions. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental plant in gardens.
Musa × paradisiaca is the accepted name for the hybrid between Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. Most cultivated bananas and plantains are triploid cultivars either of this hybrid or of M. acuminata alone. Linnaeus originally used the name M. paradisiaca only for plantains or cooking bananas, but the modern usage includes hybrid cultivars used both for cooking and as dessert bananas. Linnaeus's name for dessert bananas, Musa sapientum, is thus a synonym of Musa × paradisiaca.
Iris sikkimensis is a plant species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus Iris and in the section Pseudoregelia. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from Sikkim. It has pale green or light green thin leaves, slender stem, 2 or 3 lilac or purple flowers, with a white beard with orange tips. It is thought to be a hybrid of Iris hookeriana and Iris kumaonensis.
Eulophia stenopetala is a species of orchid endemic to Bhutan. The only material on this species from Bhutan is the holotype specimen collected by William Griffith in Bhutan in 1838 and resides at the Kew Herbarium with catalogue number K000852991. Another specimen without any information on its location is also available at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center with catalogue number U.1466607. The plant is currently considered extinct as numerous attempts to find it in the type locality failed.
Odoiporus longicollis, commonly known as banana stem weevil or banana pseudostem borer, is a species of weevil found in South Asia and South East Asia.
