BANANA 'Wild Forest' --Musa yunnanensis--

A beautiful, high altitude banana from China's Yunnan Province and Arunachal Pradesh in India that has proven to be a very interesting cold tolerant species that will thrive under similar conditions as the legendary Musa basjoo and M. sikkimensis, even though not quite as hardy. It is a slender- stemmed, extremely fast growing plant with large leaves supported by waxy white leaf stalks. Some confusion surrounds the introduction of this banana into cultivation: It originally came to us misidentified as Ensete wilsonii, was subsequently thought to be Musa itinerans, as which we have had it in our assortment for a long time, and it now turns out to be a new species, described in 2007 by Markku Hakkinen as Musa yunnanensis.Cultural RequirementsSun Exposure Full sun from early ageLight shade when youngFrost Tolerance ModerateWater Requirements HighWind Tolerance LowAppearanceGrowth Rate Very fastGrowth Form Palmlike TreeHerbaceous TreeOrnamental Value PrettyUsesProperties DeciduousEvergreenHazards Child and Pet FriendlyGardening LandscapingOrnamentalPottedProducts/Economic Fiber