Musa basjoo

(False Japanese Fiber Banana, Garden Banana, Hardy Banana)

This is the most well-known hardy banana which is grown since end of the 19th century in Central Europe. It enjoys an increasing popularity in the youngest time, there already are many outdoor sites in Germany, in Hamburg, Stuttgart, Wuppertal, Cologne, Baden Baden, Freiburg, Dresden and other places, also in Austria and in the Switzerland. There are even some huge groves such as in the Cologne flora, in the botanical garden Tuebingen and in Baden Baden, also in some private gardens. There are two outdoor sites even in Southern Sweden in Ängelholm at Leif Klingström, a Swedish exotic gardener and in Gothenburg at a friend of him.

The species name "basjoo" dates from the Japanese, is derived from the Japanese word "basho" phonetically for banana.

Musa basjoo becomes more than 5 meters high under most favorable conditions. The fruits are edible and are eaten in Japan as delicacy, they are quite small and one uses her therefore like the dessert bananas. Musa basjoo is generally also describing Japanese fiber banana, they however is so that Musa basjoo but Musa balbisiana isn't used for the fiber extraction for bags and shipping ropes in Southern Japan. One has moreover noticed in youngest time that Musa basjoo self isn't resident in Japan but in China. Presumably merchants or seafarer have brought suckers or seedlings of Musa basjoo to Japan, the species has self established in Japan, also local cultivars were formed which are described more close below.

Musa basjoo does flower after very mild winters like 1988/89 and 1999/2000 outdoors, if the pseudotruks have come through the winters packed well. However, the forming fruits will not ripe in your area, foreseen by extreme cases in which you have provided the bananas with a heated winter protection. Usually Musa basjoo freezes back to the ground, sprouts every spring newly from the corms in May. The leaves come through to 27°F without damages, the pseudotrunks clearly deeper temperatures, it has already given pseudotrunks which have already survived to 16°F at the height of 5 to 7 feet, the corms withstand 10°F. In the youth Musa basjoo freezes ever back to the ground even if you try to protect the pseudotrunks. But it grows very fast and can reach heights of over 10 feet till. But it's recommended to mulch Musa basjoo good, so that the frost can't run to the corm - for the case of the possible extreme winter. There also is a case, where a Musa basjoo has survived its first outdoor winter as extreme winter 1996/97 at the borderline of Cologne to the Bergish Land, and that even nearly without winter protection, because this was blown away at a storm. This specimen survived even 0°F! And it regrown then in the following spring from the corm again. Today it's a very beautiful banana, which is an eye-catcher for passers-by dropping in summer. It belongs to the finest banana herbaceous perennial plants of Germany. The hardness reaches to USDA zone 6. In Belgium young plants of Musa basjoo already have survived 10°F throughfrozen in an unheated greenhouse.

It is still worth mentioning that there is a cultivar with white spotted variegated leaves: Musa basjoo var. Variegata, a outdoor site of this still very rare type exists in The Netherlands. However, this type won't find distribution as fast as the normal green species Musa basjoo since the propagation couldn't be carried out in large number because it is propagated by suckers. The tissue culture propagation is generally very difficulty at variegated plants, because a part of the tissue culture propagated variegated bananas is mutating back into the green form and it also results chlorophyllfree not viable young plants. These facts have been watched at tests with the in Florida and Hawaii known variegated form of the not hardy variety "Ae Ae". "Ae Ae Variegated" is also only propagated by suckers therefore. It is a variegated form of a not hardy fruit banana and this type only forms few pups and therefore very expensive. At Musa basjoo var. Variegata the propagation could be some easier, because the species Musa basjoo forms many pups. The variegated form of Musa basjoo could be a hardy alternative for "Ae Ae Variegated".

There are existing some more cultivars of Musa basjoo, which even some hardier than the regular Musa basjoo. It negotiates primarily about Musa basjoo "Sakhaline", alleged from the south of the Russian island Sakhaline and Musa basjoo "Sakhaline" from the northern Japanese island Hokkaido from the area of the city "Saporro" which are introducted also to Germany in the last years. Already good experiences with the hardiness were made in Upper Bavaria with Musa basjoo "Saporro". They could have chances of survival even in southern Scandinavia. The leaves of both cultivars are some smaller than at Musa basjoo, the growth is slower and the end size of 7 to 10 feet in one season lies below the of the species. Both varieties resprout 2 to 3 weeks later from the corm than the species.

Of Musa basjoo "Sakhaline" one even almost could think for it, that could be a dwarf form of Musa basjoo. It gets as large as the not hardy well-known Canary fruit banana Dwarf Cavendish, this is the well-known and popular Canary banana has one to 6 feet tall pseudotrunk which is thicker than the of Musa basjoo. The leaves get not more than 5 feet m long and 2 feet wide, have firmer leafstalks particularly at the base and are dark green. The plant has a denser leaf crown than Musa basjoo. It grows 40 per cent slower than Musa basjoo, stops to grow only in winter completely. After English experiences the pseudotrunk shall have survived even even 19 °F without damages without winter protection, the leaves are hardy like at Musa basjoo. The corms are hardy to 10°F, this variety has survived throughfrozen 10°F in an unheated greenhouse in Belgium.

In winter cold regions it is therefore more recommendable, because the pseudotrunk has to be easier protected because of the lower height. You also could expect flowers and fruits so. Interesting is moreover the better suitability for smaller gardens since there is a little lower place need than at Musa basjoo.

In younger time first specimens have flowered in Belgium, so that it could found whether there are botanical differences between Musa basjoo and Musa basjoo "Sakhaline", these are probable, if a DNA analysis proves clear differences of Musa basjoo. Then it would be a new hardy Musa species.

The origin of this very hardy banana isn't recognizable obviously, there are two different rumors. The first rumor meant of a Russian botanist who claimed he has brought the banana from the Russian island Sakhaline in the north and has sold it to an English nursery. And the second means that a cargo load of young plants of this variety was sold to an English nursery from the airport on Sakhaline. Wild sites are not known, are improbable well.

It shall exist more cultivars of Musa basjoo, e. g. one origin from Izmit/Turkey. However, the plant seems to be same like the wild species.

Musa basjoo in  the Cologne Flora in fall 2000	Musa basjoo in my garden in October 2001
Musa basjoo "Saporro" in my garden im August 2001

Actually temperature at the origin site of Musa basjoo "Saporro"