The word banana is a general term embracing a number of species or hybrids in the genus Musa of the family Musaceae. Some species such as M. Basjoo Sieb. & Zucc. of Japan and M. ornata Roxb., native from Pakistan to Burma, are grown only as ornamental plants or for fiber. M. textilis Nee of the Philippines is grown only for its fiber, prized for strong ropes and also for tissuethin tea bags. The socalled Abyssinian banana, Ensete ventricosum Cheesman, formerly E. edule Horan, Musa ensete Gmel., is cultivated in Ethiopia for fiber and for the staple foods derived from the young shoot, the base of the stem, and the corm. Most ediblefruited bananas, usually seedless, belong to the species M. acuminata Colla M. cavendishii Lamb. ex Paxt., M. chinensis Sweet, M. nana Auth. NOT Lour., M. zebrina Van Houtee ex Planch., or to the hybrid M. X paradisiaca L. M. X sapientum L.; M. acumianta X M. balbisiana Colla.

Address: 625 Agriculture Mall Dr. West Lafayette, IN, 47907-2010
Telephone: (765) 494-1300
Website: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/banana.html