Ensete ventricosum (Abyssinian Banana)

Ensete ventricosum is native to tropical Africa, from Ethiopia to Angola. It is very closely related to the banana plant. It is a monster herbaceous plant that can reach 30ft tall with individual leaves reaching 12ft long. The flower stalk rises from the center of the leaf cluster at the top of the plant and droops down as much as 10ft long. It flowers and produces inedible fruit very similar to the banana plant. It is not cold hardy,
only being able to tolerate US Hardiness Zones 10-12.

There is at least one cultivated variety named "Maurelii" and it differs from the species in that it has red leaf midribs both on top of and below the leaf surface where the species tends to have a reddish tint on the underside of the leaf's midrib.

 

Kingdom:  Plantae  Subkingdom:  Tracheophyta (Vascular Plants)  Superdivision:  Spermatophyta (Seed Plants)  Division:  Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)  Class:  Liliopsida (Monocotyledons)  Subclass:  Zingiberidae  Order:  Zingiberales  Family:  Musaceae (Banana Family)   Genus:  Ensete  Species:  Ensete ventricosum (Abyssinian Banana) ---YOU ARE HERE

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Bibliography

---Brickell, Cristopher and Judith D. Zuk, 1997, The American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, New York: DK Publishing, Inc., ISBN 0-7894-1943-2
---Rodale, J.I., 1965, The Encyclodedia of Organic Gardening, Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Books
---Turner, R.G. Jr., 2001, Botanica, Barnes & Noble, Inc. and Random House Australia Pty Ltd, B&N ISBN 0760716420, ISBN 1566491754

Botanica

Rodale's All New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening

American Horticulture Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants

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