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Banana. A plant of the genus Musa, natural order Musaceae, being Musa sapientum, while the plantain is Musa paradisiaca. It is originally indigenous to the East Indies, and an herbaceous plant with an underground stem. The apparent stem, which is sometimes as high as thirty feet, is formed of the closely compacted sheaths of the leaves. The leaves are six to ten feet long and one or more broad, with a strong midrib, from which the veins are given off at right angles; they are used for thatch, basket making, etc., besides yielding a useful fiber. The spikes of the flowers may grow nearly four feet long, in bunches, covered with purple-covered bracts. The fruit is four to ten or twelve inches long, and one inch or more in diameter; it grows in large bunches, weighing often from forty to eighty pounds. The pulp is soft and of a luscious taste; when ripe it is eaten either raw or cooked. The banana is cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical countries, and is an important article of food. Manilla hemp is the product of a species of banana.

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