芭蕉 ba jiao

Pseudostems 2.5--4 m. Petiole to 30 cm, robust; leaf blade adaxially bright green, oblong, 2--3 m × ca. 30 cm, base rounded, asymmetric. Inflorescence pendulous. Bracts red-brown to purple. Male flowers 10--16 per bract, in 2 rows. Compound tepal 4--4.5 cm; free tepal equaling compound tepal, apex apiculate. Berries subsessile, trigonous oblong to sometimes 5-angled, 5--7 cm. Seeds numerous, black, irregularly angled, 6--8 mm wide, tuberculate. 2 n = 22.

Cultivated. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [native to Japan, Korea].

Medicinal and ornamental.