Musa velutina upright inflorescence with yellow flowers and red-pink bracts

Musa velutina

Name: Musa velutina
Address: CO

Native to the eastern Himalayas and Assam, this small perennial herb grows about 5 feet tall and forms clumps through underground rhizomes and suckers. Upright flower clusters bear yellow to orange flowers beneath pink bracts. The reddish-pink bananas are about 3 inches long and covered in velvety hairs. Their skins split and peel back naturally when ripe, exposing creamy-white flesh with numerous large black seeds. The pulp is edible and sweet, though the seeds limit its use as a dessert banana. In parts of India, the male flower buds are eaten as vegetables, and the leaves serve as food wrappers or containers. Photographed in the central Andes mountain range of Colombia.

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Musa velutina upright inflorescence with a pink bract and yellow tubular flowers

A Musa velutina inflorescence with rose-pink bracts and yellow flowers

Rose-pink and purple Musa velutina bracts surrounding erect yellow flowers with white filaments and brown anthers

Musa velutina inflorescence with red-pink and purple bracts with yellow flowers

Musa velutina inflorescence with red-pink bracts and yellow flowers

Musa velutina inflorescence with red-pink and purple bracts around yellow flowers on the top of the inflorescence and dark pink fruit at the bottom of the inflorescence

Musa velutina inflorescence with red-pink around yellow flowers on the top of the inflorescence and dark pink fruit at the bottom of the inflorescence

Musa velutina inflorescence with yellow flowers, pink bracts and developing hairy pink fruits

Open Musa velutina banana peels with white pulp