The Bronze Banana, as it is commonly known as, is one of my favourite ornamental banana plants that I like. Not really considered as an exotic plant, it can be found in most large nurseries in Singapore from time to time. For me, this banana grows up to a height of about 1 to 1.2 m in my community garden, probably due to the good light level that it receives. This is considered quite a short height for a banana.
It is grown purely for its ornamental value due to its decorative inflorescence that has bracts that are brick-red in colour. This is a bract colour that can be considered as unique in the genus Musa. The fruits are few and very small and hence not the dessert type of edible bananas we are so used to see and eat.
Botanically known as Musa laterita, the specific name “laterita” was given for the brick-red bracts this plant produces on its inflorescence which resemble the colour of laterite, a soil type prevalent in the tropics, as mentioned earlier. In many plant catalogues, one may also find this banana being marketed as a cultivar of Musa ornata, which is another popular ornamental banana.
When I first bought this plant, I did not know much about it. Hence, I did some research on the Internet and got to learn more about it on the website on Musaceae by Constantine and Rossel. True to what they have described on their website, it did not take long for me to notice the unruly growth habit of this ornamental banana after I have planted it in the ground…
Like all Musa species, this plant produces suckers but they do not grow around the mother plant. Instead, the suckers of the Bronze Banana grow out from the ground far from the main plant. It travelled from its original growing location due to the long rhizomes the plant sends out. When I first got it, it was grown inside a big black polythene bag and this nasty growth habit was not apparent at all.
Sounds like some invasive Heliconia species, eh?
