The pink banana, or Musa velutina is a rather striking looking banana plant. This is the first time that I’ve seen pink bananas, so naturally, I had to do some research on this particular species. This species is used as an ornamental banana that reaches up to 1.5 metres in height. It is a herbaceous perennial and a native of the Assam region of India, which is in the eastern Himalaya, where the climate is sub-tropical and/or monsoonal and tropical. The meaning of the binomial name Musa velutina is as follows:
- Musa-thought to come from the Arabic name for the plant ‘mauz’, which itself is in honour of Antonia Musa (63-14BCE) a physician to the first emperor of Rome, Octavious Augustus.
- Velutina-a Latin word that means ‘like velvet’ or covered with soft hairs.
The pink banana is a plant that is composed of pseudostems that range in colour from yellow-green to purple-green. Suckers are produced freely.
The leaves of the pink banana are mid-green and shaped like a paddle. The elliptical-shaped leaves can reach up to one metre in length. Leaf edges are sometimes torn by the wind.
There are seperate male and female flowers on the same plant (monoecious is the botanical term for this). The pink bracts surround the tubular yellow to orange flowers. The bracts reflexes when mature.
Hairy pink-purple fruit follow the flowers. They reach nine centimetres long. On maturity, the bananas split open to reveal black seeds.
To grow this banana species, you need a warm, wet summer with winters being cooler and drier. Humidity needs to be high. Soil needs to be fertile and moist-the moisture needs to be consistent, so ensure watering occurs when there isn’t any rain. The pink banana likes full sun and part shade, along with shelter from the wind.
https://www.gardeia.net/plant/musa-velutina