Balbis banana (Musa balbisiana)

Seedy banana or balbis banana (Musa balbisiana) is a plant species in the Musaceae, arising from a completely buried tuber, stems formed as pseudostems with heaps of leaf sheaths, succulent, erect, very large and strong, green and black in color and produce shoots in surrounding.

M. balbisiana has elongated leaves, 120 cm long, 45 cm wide, impermeable, a midrib, dark blue and green with a powdery coating.

Inflorescences grow horizontally or obliquely from the end of the stem. The female flowers are near the base and develop into fruit, the male flowers are on the uppermost bud and form buds between the leathery bracts. The fruits grow in a bunch.

The fruit is square with 3-5 corners, 5-13 cm long and 2.5-5.5 cm in diameter. The skin is very thick, strong and flexible like rubber. The flesh is white and starchy. The seeds are very large and very numerous.

This species grows best in fertile, well-drained soil with full sun exposure, tolerates dry soils and cooler temperate climates, minimum rainfall and survives long dry seasons.

The fruit has a sweet taste but is rarely eaten because of the many seeds. The fruit is often used as animal feed. All bananas contain natural sources of three sugars namely sucrose, fructose and glucose.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Musaceae
Genus: Musa
Species: Musa balbisiana
Subspecies: Musa balbisiana ssp. bakeri, Musa balbisiana ssp. brachycarpa
Variety: Musa balbisiana var. balbisiana, Musa balbisiana var. liukiuensis

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