Species · genus Musa · Musaceae

Edible Banana

Musa acuminata Colla

Also known as: Banana · Cavendish Banana · Chinese Banana · Dwarf Banana · Wild Banana

Growth habit

herbaceous tree

Native range

Bangladesh, Borneo, China South-Central, China Southeast, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam

Reference · M. acuminata

Cultivars of M. acuminata

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under M. acuminata yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Musa acuminata is a large herbaceous tree from the warm, humid tropics of South and Southeast Asia, where it grows fast with abundant moisture and warmth. It is a heavy feeder and drinker in active growth, but its fleshy corm rots if left standing in saturated mix, so water when the top inch or two of soil has dried, then water thoroughly. Give it bright indirect light and high humidity, and keep it warm and out of cold drafts.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 4-9d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 9 days

Humidity

High

Temperature

18–30 °C

Soil mix

Rich, moisture-retentive loamy mix that drains freely

Propagation

Division of pups from the base

Fertilizing

Feed generously every 2 to 4 weeks in the growing season

Growth rate

Fast

Flowering

Rarely flowers or fruits indoors

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Non-toxic to cats & dogs

Banana (Musa) — ASPCA non-toxic to cats, dogs, horses. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 4-9d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ASPCA

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Edible Banana yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.