Cavendish Banana, Musa acuminata

The Edible Banana, Dwarf Cavendish, a popular and commercially significant cultivar, offers a compact size and vibrant foliage. The maroon or purple blotches on its leaves add intrigue to any plant collection. 

It is one of the most commonly planted banana varieties from the Cavendish group, and the main source of commercial Cavendish bananas along with Grand Nain.

The Dwarf Cavendish is the ideal choice for plantation cultivation, food forests and gardens alike. Its broad, wind-resistant leaves and stable height make it easier to manage. With a fast growth rate and non-shedding male bracts and flowers, this plant is a must-have for any expert gardener..

The fruits of the Dwarf Cavendish cultivar range from about 15 to 25cm in length, and are thin skinned. Each plant can bear up to 90 fingers.

Cavendish bananas were named after William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire. Though not the first known banana specimens in Europe, around 1834 Cavendish received a shipment of bananas courtesy of the chaplain of Alton Towers (then the seat of the Earls of Shrewsbury). His gardener, Sir Joseph Paxton cultivated them in the greenhouses of Chatsworth House. The plants were botanically described by Paxton as Musa cavendishii, after the Duke. (Source Wikipedia)

Edible Uses

Grow and enjoy fresh, delicious bananas from your own forest gardens, can also be pot grown. This versatile plant produces up to 12cm long and 2.5cm wide fruit that can be enjoyed raw, dried, or even added to dishes as a sweet flavoring. The male flowers, young shoots, and tender core of the stem can also be eaten for a unique culinary experience. The leaves are also used to wrap food. Note it takes Cavendish at least 15 months to fruit and they also require winter protection.

You can see how to protect them in our video here.

Medicinal Uses

Unripe fruits are astringent and are eaten as a treatment for diarrhoea. The peel and pulp of ripe bananas contain anti fungal, antibiotic and dopamine factors. The ripe banana peel is also used as a salve to ease insect stings and bites.

Ashes of the unripe peel and leaves are used as a treatment of dysentery, diarrhea and malignant ulcers. The leaves, dried and made into a syrup which can be used  to treat coughs and chest conditions such as bronchitis. A decoction of the leaves is drunk to treat consumption. Painful urination is treated with juice from the leaves, and dysentery is treated with the leaves. A poultice of the leaves is used to treat burns and other skin ailments.

The flowers are cooked as a remedy for bronchitis, dysentery, diabetics and ulcers.

The root is strongly astringent and has been used to arrest the coughing up of blood. The roots are also used to treat convulsions. A poultice of the roots has been used to treat carbuncles, swellings, digestive disorders and dysentery.

The pith of the suckers is used to treat burns. The stem is used to treat swellings of the armpit and groin and to treat haemorrhoids. An infusion of the stem pulp is used to treat dysentery. The sap is used as a treatment for epilepsy, leprosy, dysentery, diarrhea, and is applied on insect stings and bites. (Source PFAF)

For more information you can visit the PFAF (plants for a future) website here.

Requirements

Musa acuminata (the Dwarf Cavendish) is a PERENNIAL growing to 3 m (9ft 10in). 
Its USDA hardy in zones 10 to 12. It is hardy to UK zone 9 and is frost tender. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). On The Wildlands ours are in their 3rd year and during winter when they go dormant we wrap them to protect them from frosts.

Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil.

Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils.

It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.

Available in 3 sizes This is a young plant in a 1L pot