Musa basjoo
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{use American English|date=March 2024}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Musa basjooSochi1.JPG
| image2 =
| status=LC
| status_system=IUCN3.1
| genus = Musa
| parent = Musa sect. Musa
| species = basjoo
| authority = Siebold & Zucc. ex Iinuma
}}
File:Musa basjoo, Glasgow Botanic Gardens.jpg]]
Musa basjoo, known variously as Japanese banana,{{cite web |url=http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/new/Musa.html |title=Sorting Musa Names |author=Snow Barlow |work=Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database |publisher=University of Melbourne |date=July 19, 2002 |access-date=July 7, 2010}} Japanese fiber banana{{GRIN | access-date = January 10, 2018}} or hardy banana, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the banana family Musaceae. It was previously thought to have originated in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, from where it was first described in cultivation,Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening 3: 268. Macmillan {{ISBN|0-333-47494-5}}. but is now known to have originated in the subtropical southern Chinese province of Sichuan.{{cite journal|url=http://ejournal.sinica.edu.tw/bbas/content/2002/1/bot431-09.html|title=Taxonomic notes on wild bananas (Musa) from China|author=Liu, A.-Z.|author2=Li, D.-Z.|author3=Li, X.-W. |journal=Bot. Bull. Acad. Sin. |year=2002|volume=43|pages=77–81 }} Its specific name is derived from its Japanese common name, bashō (芭蕉).
Description
Musa basjoo is a herbaceous perennial with trunklike pseudostems{{efn|A pseudostem is a false stem formed by the rolled bases of leaves.}} growing to around {{convert|2|-|2.5|m|ft|abbr=on}}, with a crown of mid-green leaves growing up to {{convert|2|m|ft|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|70|cm|in|abbr=on}} wide when mature. The species produces male and female flowers on the same inflorescence which may extend for over {{convert|1|m|ft|abbr=on}}. The banana fruit formed are yellow-green, around {{convert|5|-|10|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|2|-|3|cm|in|abbr=on}} broad; they are inedible, with sparse white pulp and many black seeds.{{cite book|author=Constantine, D.|date=1999–2008|title=The Musaceae: An annotated list of the species of Ensete, Musa and Musella|chapter-url=http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~drc/musa_basjoo.htm|chapter=Musa basjoo}}
Uses
=Cultivation=
Musa basjoo has been cultivated both for its fibers and as an ornamental plant in gardens outside its natural range, first in Japan, and from the late 19th century, then in the warmer parts of western and central Europe (north of the United Kingdom), the United States, and southern Canada. In gardens, it is used as a hardy tropical foliage plant. Although the pseudostem may only cope with a few degrees below freezing, the underground rhizome is considered frost hardy, if well insulated with thick mulch, in areas with winter temperatures down to {{convert|-12|C|F}}.{{cite web|title=Banans Raras – Musa basjoo|url=http://www.bananasraras.org/basjooengl.htm|access-date=23 November 2013}} The roots are considered hardy to {{convert|-10|C|F}}.{{Citation |last=Wong |first=James |year=2013 |title=Kimonos from banana peel? |journal=The Garden |volume=138 |issue=8 |page=17 | url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/about-the-rhs/publications/magazines/the-garden/2013-issues/august/Comment.pdf}} If the pseudostem is killed, the banana will resprout from the ground where it rapidly grows to full size in a season under optimal conditions. Thus, it can be grown as far north as USDA zone 6a. It can also be overwintered under cover in a pot and kept growing, which is the only way it can be made to fruit in northern regions as it requires 12–24 months of warmth to bloom.
In the UK, it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.{{cite web | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/11230/i-Musa-basjoo-i/Details | title = RHS Plantfinder - Musa basjoo | access-date=4 April 2018}}{{cite web | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 65 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | access-date = 4 April 2018}}
=Fiber{{anchor|Fiber}}=
In Japan, Musa basjoo plant fibers are used to produce textiles known in Japanese as {{transl|ja|kijōka-bashōfu}} ({{nihongo3|"banana cloth|芭蕉布|bashōfu}}). Whole pseudostems are cut into strips up to {{convert|3|m|sp=us}} long. These are beaten, bleached and dried to produce the raw material, which can then be made into products such as carpets, tablecloths, kimono and paper.
=Traditional medicine=
In traditional Chinese medicine, the stem, flower, leaves and rhizome of Musa basjoo are considered useful for clearing heat-toxins, quenching thirst and disinhibiting urine.[http://libproject.hkbu.edu.hk/was40/detail?lang=en&channelid=1288&searchword=herb_id=D01178 Musa basjoo Sieb. et Zucc.]. Medicinal Plant Images Database, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University. Retrieved on 25 February 2012.
=Culture=
The 17th-century Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō took his pen name from this plant.{{Cite book|title=Traces of Dreams: Landscape, Cultural Memory, and the Poetry of Bashō|last=Shirane|first=Haruo|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=1998|isbn=9780804730990|location=Stanford|pages=64}}
Notes
{{notes}}
See also
- List of hardy bananas
- Musa textilis (Abacá), banana species also used as a traditional source of fiber in the Philippines
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commonscat}}
- [http://libproject.hkbu.edu.hk/was40/detail?lang=en&channelid=1288&searchword=herb_id=D01178 Musa basjoo Sieb. et Zucc.] Medicinal Plant Images Database (School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University) {{in lang|en}} {{in lang|zh-hant}}
{{Fibers}}
{{Textile}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q33331}}
Category:Flora of the Ryukyu Islands