Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of size and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple and red. Almost all modern edible parthenocarpic bananas come from the two wild species- Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. The scientific names of bananas are Musa acuminita, Musa balbisiana or hybirds musa depending on their genomic constitution. The old scientific names Musa sapientum and Musa paradisiaca are no longer used.
Banana is also used to desribe Enset and Fe'i bananas, neither which belong to the aforementioned species. Enset bananas belong to the genus Ensete while the taxomony of Fe'i type cultivars uncertain. In popular culture and commerce, "banana" usually refers to soft, sweet "dessert" bananas. By contrast, Musa cultivars with firmer, starchier fruit are called plantains or "cooking bananas". The distinction is purely arvitary and the terms 'platain' and 'banana' are sometimes interchangeable depending on their usage. They are native to tropical South and Southeast Asia, and are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea. Today, they are cultivated throunghout the tropics. They are grown in a least 107 countries, primarily for their fruit and to a lesser exten to make fiber, banana wine and as ornamental plants.
