Musa ×paradisiaca (banana)

Japanese name: バナナ
Scientific name: Musa ×paradisiaca

[Overview]
An evergreen perennial that can reach 10 m in height.
What looks like a trunk is formed by the overlapping leaf sheaths at the bases of the leaf stalks, and is called a pseudostem.
The leaves unfurl one after another as the plant develops, and are narrowly elliptic.
The inflorescence appears after 35–45 leaves have been produced, counting from the seedling stage.
The inflorescence appears at the tip of the pseudostem; it is an elliptic-conical shape 30–60 cm long, formed by overlapping reddish purple bracts, and usually hangs downward.
The bracts peel back one at a time from the base, revealing groups of female flowers in two overlapping rows, which usually set fruit parthenocarpically.
These groups of fruit are called hands; after several to a dozen or so hands, only neuter or male flowers with undeveloped ovaries are borne beyond them.
The plant dies after fruiting, but is renewed by offsets that grow from the base.

[History]
It has been cultivated since prehistoric times.

[Uses]
The fruit is eaten; there are sweet bananas eaten raw (dessert bananas) and starchy, less sweet bananas used in cooking (cooking bananas).
The male flowers at the tip of the inflorescence are also used as a vegetable.
The leaves are used to wrap food and as wrapping for steaming or roasting, and are also used as fodder, cigarette paper and medicine.
Fibers from the leaves and leaf stalks are used to weave cloth.
The pseudostem is used temporarily as building material and pulp material, and the soft core can also be eaten as a vegetable.
The rhizome and sap are also used medicinally.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by dividing suckers.
The ideal temperature for growth is 16–32°C, and it cannot overwinter outdoors in cold regions or in areas with heavy frost.
It tolerates temperatures down to nearly 0°C, but it is safer to bring it indoors to a warm, sunny place in winter.
It prefers sunny, well-drained, moist, fertile soil.
Water thoroughly when the soil surface dries, and take care that it does not run short of water in summer and during the fruiting period.
Keep it on the dry side in winter.
It is weak against dryness, and too much moisture can also cause root rot.
From spring to autumn, apply a slow-release fertilizer with equal amounts of the three main components.
Pests include aphids and spider mites.

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