The banana, which has been cultivated from the most remote times, is a plant of great importance in tropical and sub-tropical climates, where its highly nutritious fruit is used as food. It is a large herbaceous, slightly shrubby, plant of very easy growth, having immense, gracefully-arching, undivided leaves. There are numerous varieties, the fruit of which differs in shape, color and flavor.

As decorative plants in landscape gardening, few subjects equal the choice species of the banana; and on account of its utility, combined with its beauty, it is considered one of the most valuable of tropical products. Propagation is by off-shoots or suckers. When a stalk is cut, the fruit of which has ripened, sprouts are put forth which in time bear fruit. The enormous flower stalk issues from the center of the crown of leaves, and curves over with its own weight.

The flowers are arranged in a dense terminal panicle; they alternate with large, reddish scales, which drop off as the fruit stalk develops, and the finger-like fruits are in clusters. The Hawaiians seem to have possessed the banana from the earliest times, and about fifty varieties were known to the older natives. However, since the year 1855, the so-called Chinese banana (Musa Cavendishii), which was at that time introduced from Tahiti, has crowded out the native varieties, many of which are now extinct.

The accompanying cut shows a few of the different forms and sizes of the banana grown in Hawaii.