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Ensete ventricosum - Abyssinian Banana

This "mountain banana" comes from high-elevation tropical Africa and bears enomous leaves with a solid red rachis. It grows well in warm temperate and Mediterranean climates. It is not a true banana of the genus Musa, so its fruits are not edible. Nevertheless, in Africa the corms are regularly collected and eaten.

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This "mountain banana" comes from high-elevation tropical Africa and bears enomous leaves with a solid red rachis. Abyssinian Banana is not a true banana of the genus Musa, so its fruits are not edible. Nevertheless, in Africa the corms are regularly collected and eaten.

Ensete ventricosa grows well in warm temperate and Mediterranean climates. It takes only light frosts but it grows at very cool temperatures so it thrives in central Europe if overwintered indoors. Here in the Canary Islands it is sometimes grown in cooler upland areas.

Picture from wikimedia commons:
By Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6148545
The botanical drawing is by De Walter Hood Fitch (1817 – 1892) - Curtis's Botanical Magazine vol087 (1861), Dominio público, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18857746

Cultivation	Protected
Plant origin	Asia
Presentation	Bare root
Max. Size	300cm & more
Botanical family	Musaceae
Light	Sun
Minimum winter temperature	-5 ºC to 5 ºC
Plant type	Herbaceous
Care	Pot
Shape	Perennials