红蕉 hong jiao

Musa uranoscopos Loureiro.

Pseudostems 1--2 m. Petiole 30--50 cm, narrowly winged; leaf blade adaxially yellow-green, abaxially light yellow-green and not pruinose, oblong, 1.8--2.2 m × 70--80 cm, base rounded, noticeably asymmetric. Inflorescence erect; rachis glabrous. Bracts adaxially pink, abaxially scarlet and conspicuously wrinkled. Flowers 6 per bract, in 1 row. Tepals of female flowers yellow; outer lobes of compound tepal cornered; free tepal equaling compound tepal, apex acute, finely toothed. Berries obliquely pendulous on rachis, gray-white, straight, 10--12 × ca. 4 cm, not angled; stalk 3--3.5 cm. Seeds numerous. Fl. Sep--Nov. 2 n = 20.

Ravines and slopes, also cultivated in gardens; near sea level to 600 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, SE Yunnan [Vietnam].

Cultivated as an ornamental.