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Musa ornata
In Singapore: Flowering Banana, 紫梦幻蕉, 紫苞芭蕉 (Grown in Singapore)
Musa ornata, the flowering banana, is a species in the banana family (Musaceae) grown for its handsome pink-tinged foliage and showy bracts, not for fruit. It needs warm, humid, frost-free conditions, so in cooler climates grow it in a pot indoors or under glass with heat.
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.
Musa ornata is one of several banana species grown as ornamental plants for their handsome foliage, for instance in mixed tropical plantings. In temperate zones it must be protected from winter frosts, or grown under glass with heat - minimum temperature 7 °C (45 °F). It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. It flowers readily and produces few but viable seeds.
Musa ornata is native to south-east Asia and commonly found in Bangladesh, Burma, and India. This species is widely distributed throughout tropical regions but it is often misnamed. The plant is relatively tolerant and was found in Mauritius (off the coast of Madagascar) before 1805 and must have begun to travel several years before it was botanically described in 1824 on Indian banana plantations. Numerous parts of Mexico have also naturalized the plant, although the seedlings are often offered commercially under a different name (Musa violacea).
Edible banana · Musa ×alinsanaya · Bulada Banana · Banana · Japanese Banana · Pisang Tajak · Scarlet Banana · Giant Highland Banana · Laterite Banana · Javanese Wild Banana · Abacá · Fe'i banana
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Musa ornata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
