Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Musa balbisiana - Lotus banana

Edible portion : Stem, Flowers, Fruit, Buds, Seeds, Roots

A large herb. It grows 3-10 m tall. It keeps growing from year to year by re-growing new stalks from the underground root stock. The leaves are green and 3 m long. The flowers are purple. The fruit are pale yellow. They are 3 sided and 8 cm long. The fruit have seeds. This is the small diploid. The flower is pink and yellow and resembles a lotus bud. The fruit are in an upright spike. It needs pollination to produce seeds. Many bananas are hybrids between acuminata and balbisiana. See Musa x paradisiaca

A tropical plant. It grows in damp forests in N Thailand. It suits hardiness zones 10-12.

Common names : Lotus banana, Aatha kala, Amoting, Athia kol, Athiya kol, Bankela, Bankera, Bayating, Bhim thalit, Bicha kala, Bonkera, Cha ngok, Chang-el, Changlong, Chungbi anguoba, Chuoi rung do, Fae, Fahie, Kait dewsan, Ketsakhwe, Kluai taanee, Kluay-bua, Klue tani, Kola, Kopa, Laphu, Lobong, Numpui chi, Paksum, Pisang bau, Sau-su-sheth, Vai, Wegoin,

Synonyms :

Musa rosacea Jacq.;
Musa brachycarpa Backer;
Musa sapientum Linn. var. pruinosa King ex Cowan;
[or Musa BB and BBB Groups]; non-hybrid forms of edible plantains