Banana tree
A banana plant brings an instantly recognisable tropical silhouette to the garden. Despite its tree-like appearance, it is a large herbaceous plant belonging to the genus Musa in the Musaceae family. Its pseudostem is made of tightly packed leaf sheaths rather than a woody trunk. Below ground, a perennial base produces roots and replacement shoots. This structure explains how the plant can renew itself after an individual pseudostem disappears.The leaves are long, broad and flexible, with a prominent central rib. They spread high above the ground to create a generous display, sometimes plain green and sometimes marked or tinted with other colours, depending on the type. Wind may split them into strips without this necessarily indicating disease. Mature size varies considerably: some forms remain fairly compact, while others become imposing plants that occupy substantial space in a garden or greenhouse.A large flower cluster emerges when the pseudostem has developed sufficiently.…
