Species · genus Musa · Musaceae

Scarlet Banana

Musa coccinea Andrews

Also known as: Okinawa Torch · Red Flowering Banana · Red Flowering Thai Banana · Red Torch Banana

Growth habit

herbaceous tree

Native range

China South-Central, China Southeast, Vietnam

Reference · M. coccinea

Cultivars of M. coccinea

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

No named cultivars catalogued under M. coccinea 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 coccinea is a large herbaceous banana from the warm, humid subtropics of southern China and Vietnam, growing as a soft, fast-paced pseudostem rather than a true woody tree. It wants warmth, steady moisture, and bright indirect light, with good drainage so the fleshy base never sits sodden. Water when the top inch of mix has dried, leaning toward the longer interval in cooler or lower-light conditions to avoid rot.

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 5-10d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 10 days

Humidity

High

Temperature

16–30 °C

Soil mix

Rich, moisture-retentive but free-draining mix

Propagation

Division of pups from the base

Fertilizing

Feed every 2 to 4 weeks while actively growing

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Occasionally produces red bracts indoors in bright warmth

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 5-10d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ASPCA

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Scarlet 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.