Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they

produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and
red.

Almost all modern edible parthenocarpic bananas come from two wild species – Musa acuminata
and Musa balbisiana. The scientific names of bananas are Musa acuminata, Musa balbisiana or
hybrids Musa acuminata × balbisiana, depending on their genomic constitution. The old
scientific names Musa sapientum and Musa paradisiaca are no longer used.

Banana is also used to describe Enset and Fe'i bananas, neither of which belongs to the
aforementioned species. Enset bananas belong to the genus Ensete while the taxonomy of Fe'i-
type cultivars is 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 arbitrary and the terms "plantain" 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 throughout the tropics. They are
grown in at least 107 countries, primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent to make fiber,
banana wine and as ornamental plants.