(Banana, Dwarf Cavendish Banana)

The edible and ornamental Dwarf Cavendish banana is an upright, fast-growing, small tree-like perennial with large, flat leaves. The flowers give rise to a modest crop of edible bananas. The waxy flowers are yellow and surrounded by purple bracts (modified floral leaves). The small fruits have sweet, white flesh that is seedless. This herbaceous perennial forms clumps of plants at the base, each flowering and fruiting only once before dying. New plantlets, or pups, continually emerge from the base....

(Banana, Extra Dwarf Cavendish Banana)

The non-edible banana cultivar 'Extra Dwarf Cavendish' (also 'Dwarf Parfitt') is a short, upright, fast growing, ornamental tropical perennial. Its large, flat, green leaves have a soft, velvety look even though they are physically smooth. Once a stem reaches an age to flower, it haphazardly produces small fruits that are not worth eating. After flowering, the stem dies and should be removed to allow side stems in the clump to grow in more fully. This particular banana, although having origins in...

(Banana, Hybrid Banana)

The Goldfinger banana is an upright, fast-growing, tropical herb (not a tree) with large, flat, green leaves. The long, pendent flowers give rise to large bunches of large fruits that range in color from pale green when young and more starchy in taste to golden yellow when ripe and sweetly tart. This dessert banana, 'FHIA-01', is a complex tetraploid hybrid developed by the FHIA breeders in Honduras in the 1980s. It has high resistance to Sigatoka leaf spot disease and two races of Panama disease....

(Banana, Giant Cavendish Banana)

This banana cultivar is an upright, fast growing, ornamental tropical herb (not a tree) with large, flat, green leaves that produces commercially important hands of edible banana fruits. This clone has dozens of local cultivars worldwide, all varying minutely in height or the shade of the fruits. Broadly speaking, 'Giant Cavendish' is intermediate in mature growth between the larger Pisang types and the slightly shorter Dwarf Cavendish clones. As with all bananas, each stem flowers and sets fruit...

(Banana, Grande Naine Banana)

The ‘Grande Naine’ banana is an upright, fast-growing, tropical herb (not a tree) with large, flat, green leaves. The long, pendent flowers give rise to large bunches of large fruits that range in color from green to yellow. The name of this variety is French and means, literally, "big dwarf." This is the most broadly grown dessert banana because it is a relatively small plant that produces abundantly. A tender perennial, ‘Grande Naine’ forms a close clump of plants, each flowering and fruiting only...

(Banana, Ney Mannan Banana)

A sweet, creamy dessert banana, 'Ney Mannan' is an upright, fast growing, ornamental tropical herb (not a tree) with large, flat, bluish green leaves and fruits of a distinctive waxy blue tint and flesh that is sweet and creamy. Hands are densely lined with plump, light yellow fruits that may be box-like (with rounded sides). This hybrid triploid banana is tolerant of drier soil conditions and cooler temperatures, perfect for subtropical regions.

As with all bananas, each stem flowers and sets...

(Banana, Hybrid Banana, Pome Banana)

A delicious dessert banana, the Pome AAB Group of bananas are sturdy, upright, fast growing, ornamental tropical herbs (not trees) with large, flat, green leaves that grow on angling stems. The relatively small fruits are distinctly bottle-nosed in shape and have an acidy, apple-like flavor. Broadly speaking, these hybrid triploid bananas are often affected by fusarium wilt and are highly vulnerable to Sigatoka leaf spot. They are widely grown in Brazil, Cameroon, Australia, India and especially...

(Banana, Hybrid Banana, Siam Ruby Banana)

Truly an extravagant foliage plant, 'Siam Ruby' boasts large leaves of dark red marked with irregular flecks of light green. Reputed to be a mutant sport of the cultivar 'Tapo' and first seen growing in Papua New Guinea, this highly ornamental red-leaved banana entered the international market in 2005.

The newly emerging leaves look pale green initially but quickly turn deep ruby red with flecks or horizontal streaks of light green. The more heat, humidity and direct sun, the more intense the...

(Banana, Hybrid Banana, Silk Banana)

A delicious and fragrant dessert banana, 'Silk' is an ornamental tropical herb (not a tree) with large, flat, green leaves and fruits of a distinctive, acidy, apple-like and sweet flavor. They are plump, round-tipped fruits that will have split skins once fully ripe with white flesh. This hybrid triploid banana is detrimentally affected by Panama disease. This cultivar rivals 'Dwarf Cavendish' in worldwide popularity for the local orchard.

As with all bananas, each stem flowers and sets fruit...

(Banana, Hybrid Banana)

Bananas are one of the world's most important food crops and are grown in warm, moist regions globally. The AAAB Group of bananas are primarily the result of extensive and deliberate breeding programs to develop new plants with resistance to devestating diseases. One such renowned breeding center is in Honduras, the FHIA. Disease-resistant hybrids are vital to human livelihood and nutrition in tropical parts of the world where banana crop diseases are rampant.

The clump-forming plants develop...