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Family: Musaceae

Relatives: Numerous ornamental plants including traveler's palm, bird-of-paradise, heliconia, and ginger

Origin: Southeast Asia

Distribution/History: Edible bananas originated in the Indo-Malaysian region reaching to northern Australia. They were known only by hearsay in the Mediterranean region in the 3rd Century B.C., and are believed to have been first carried to Europe in the 10th Century A.D. Early in the 16th Century, Portuguese mariners transported the plant from the West African coast to South America. The types found in cultivation in the Pacific have been traced to eastern Indonesia from where they spread to the Marquesas and by stages to Hawaii.

Importance: Bananas are eaten fresh and used in salads, desserts, breads, and candy. Steamed, the taste of the flowers is somewhat similar to that of artichokes.Banana leaves are often used as (ecologically friendly) disposable food containers or as "plates". 

A key feature is the banana’s rhizomatous root system, which puts up new stalks each year. For good fruit production, it helps to limit the plant to three or four stalks that are different ages. The oldest and tallest one should be flowering and/or fruiting. The second one should be one-half to one-third the size of the first. And finally, there should be one or two young plants that are six inches to three feet tall.