Musa basjoo

Native range and Japanese cultivation

Musa basjoo is native to southern China. It was first described from cultivated Japanese material, which explains the species’ strong association with Japan without making Japan its natural origin.

The plant has long been grown in Japan as an ornamental and fibre source. Material from the pseudostems has been used in traditional paper and textile production, giving the species a cultural history quite separate from dessert bananas grown for soft, seedless fruit.

Its modern cultivation across temperate regions rests largely on the survival capacity of the underground rhizome, while the foliage and pseudostems remain much less cold resistant. This distinction underlies its long history as an ornamental banana outside the tropics.

Care for broad-leaved tropical growth

Clump renewal: Remove an above-ground stem only after it has flowered, collapsed or become damaged. Keep healthy suckers attached for renewal, or divide a sucker with a portion of rhizome and its own roots for propagation.

Overwintering: A container plant can be kept warm and growing with strong light, or rested in a cool protected place with sharply reduced watering. The leaves and above-ground stems, which consist of overlapping leaf bases, are much less cold-resistant than the underground rhizome. Protect the root ball from freezing and do not keep a resting plant wet.

Light and exposure: Give Musa basjoo full sun to partial shade outdoors or the strongest available light under cover. High light supports rapid, sturdy growth. Shelter from persistent strong wind where intact foliage matters, since the large blades naturally split along their veins.

Water and feeding: During warm growth, keep the rich root zone consistently moist and feed regularly to support the large leaves. Do not let a container remain in standing water. Drainage becomes especially important as temperatures fall, because cold, saturated roots and rhizomes decay readily.

Soil and space: Use a fertile, moisture-retentive but aerated substrate in a stable pot with free drainage. Container roots have less protection from heat, drought and freezing than an established rhizome in the ground, so landscape hardiness figures should not be applied directly to a pot. Avoid dividing suckers during this period, and introduce stronger outdoor sun and wind gradually after growth resumes.

Common problems with Musa basjoo

• Leaves lost after cold: Leaves and above-ground leaf-sheath stems are much less cold-resistant than the underground stem, or rhizome. Frost-damaged foliage does not prove the whole plant is dead; protect the root ball and wait for firm new shoots when warmth returns.
• Wind-torn blades: Long vein-following tears are expected on exposed banana foliage. Move a container away from persistent strong wind and prevent new leaves rubbing against hard surfaces; the existing splits will not close.
• Soft pseudostem or rhizome: Cold, saturated substrate can turn the leaf-sheath stem or rhizome soft, dark and foul-smelling. Keep the plant drier while cool, remove decayed material and restore drainage around the surviving firm tissue.
• Rolling and crisp margins: A light pot, dry root ball and inward-rolling leaves indicate water deficit during active growth. Rehydrate the full root zone and let it drain; increase checking frequency during warm weather without leaving runoff around the roots.
• Pests on sheltered plants: Fine stippling or webbing points to mites, silver scarring to thrips, cotton to mealybugs, and fixed bumps or honeydew to scale or aphids. Keep the plant apart, inspect the leaf undersides and bases, and treat the pest found.
• Expanding leaf spots: Random lesions that enlarge, become water-soaked or spread to new leaves are different from clean wind tears and dry cold injury. Keep foliage dry, prevent splash to nearby plants and have the problem assessed if fresh spots continue.

Musa basjoo is non-toxic to people and pets

• This plant is non-toxic to people, cats and dogs.
• Chewing a large amount can still cause an upset stomach.
• If a large amount is eaten and symptoms continue, contact a veterinarian or medical professional.

How the name Musa basjoo came about

Musa is an old name for banana adopted into botanical Latin. The epithet basjoo is a Latinized spelling of the Japanese word bashō, a name for banana plants.

Carl Linnaeus established the genus Musa in 1753 in Species Plantarum, page 1043.

Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel first described Musa basjoo in 1867 in Annales Musei Botanici Lugduno-Batavi, volume 3, page 203; Philipp Franz von Siebold had proposed the name.