Musa balbisiana

plants · banana family · tropical

Wild banana ancestor. Musa balbisiana is a species of wild banana that grows naturally in Southeast Asia. It's one of the two main wild bananas that scientists believe combined to create all the bananas we eat today.

Created modern bananas. When Musa balbisiana bred with another wild banana species called Musa acuminata, their offspring became the bananas and plantains humans grow and eat around the world. Without this wild relative, the sweet bananas in your lunchbox wouldn't exist.

Different from dessert bananas. Musa balbisiana is tougher and has thicker skin than sweet dessert bananas. It contains more starch and fewer sugars, making it more like a plantain that needs cooking rather than a fruit you eat raw.

Tropical Southeast Asian plant. This banana species originally grew wild in the warm, wet regions of Southeast Asia, where conditions were perfect for banana plants to thrive with plenty of rain and sun.