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Yunnan Banana

Musa yunnanensis

Also called Wild Forest Banana

Musa yunnanensis is a wild banana native to montane forest in Yunnan, China, that grows as an understory plant reaching about 5 metres tall. It needs shade rather than direct sun and tolerates cool, frosty conditions better than most bananas.

Family
Musaceae (Banana family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist during growth and let the top layer dry slightly between waterings.
Soil
Rich, fertile, well-draining loam with organic matter.
Temperature
Tolerates cool subtropical conditions and light frost; protect from hard freezes.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
China (Yunnan)
Climate
subtropical

About

Musa yunnanensis, commonly known as either Yunnan banana or wild forest banana, is a recently described plant in the banana and plantain family native to Yunnan in southern China. The type specimen was collected in 2005 in Xishuangbanna (an autonomous prefecture bordering on Indochina), at an elevation c. 1,150 meters.

Although M. yunnanesis grows in montane tropical forest, it is both shade and frost tolerant, and sensitive to direct sunlight, and so is essentially an understory plant. Individuals typically reach about 5 – 5.25 meters in height at maturation. Bark on pseudostems is coated in wax that is white with a bluish cast. The upper surface of the leaves are also bluish, though their undersides are red hued.

Other Musa plants

Edible banana · Musa ×alinsanaya · Bulada Banana · Musa arunachalensis · Musa aurantiaca · Musa azizii · Banana · Native banana · Musa barioensis · Japanese Banana · Bau Banana · Pisang Tajak

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Musa yunnanensis 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.

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