• 
• 
• 

About Abyssinian Banana

Ethiopian Banana, also known as the False Banana, is a massive monocarpic plant native to the highlands of East Africa. It resembles a true banana but belongs to a separate genus and does not produce edible fruit. Instead, its enormous value lies in its starchy pseudostem and corm, which are fermented to produce kocho — a staple food sustaining over 20 million people in southern Ethiopia. The plant is truly monumental, reaching 20 to 30 feet tall with paddle-shaped leaves up to 15 feet long and a distinctive swollen base. It grows for 5 to 8 years before producing a single massive flower spike, after which the plant dies. The ornamental red-leaved cultivar 'Maurelii' is widely grown in temperate summer gardens as a dramatic annual or overwintered specimen. Ensete requires rich, moist soil and full sun to achieve its impressive size. In colder regions it must be lifted and stored frost-free over winter or grown as a fast-growing seasonal accent.

• Tropical

How to care for Abyssinian Banana

Get watering reminders for Abyssinian Banana — free on iPhoneDownload on the App Store

At a Glance

Bloom time

Fragrance

Toxicity

History

Ensete ventricosum is native to the highlands of East Africa, from Ethiopia south through Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and into southern Africa. In its most culturally central context, it is the staple carbohydrate crop of the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region — particularly the Gurage, Sidama, Wolayta, and Hadiya peoples, who collectively constitute more than 20 million "enset farmers," making this one of the most regionally concentrated staple crops in the world. Unlike true bananas (Musa), Ensete fruit is dry, full of stony seeds, and inedible. Instead, the food crop is prepared from scraped starchy material inside the corm and pseudostem: the plant is harvested at 4-7 years old, the inner material is scraped out, pit-fermented with lactic-acid-bacteria starter for weeks or months, and the resulting pulp (called "kocho") is baked into flat-bread or made into porridge.

Enset can store fermented for years, giving it exceptional famine-insurance value — Ethiopian enset-region communities have historically weathered droughts that devastated grain-farming neighbors. The species was introduced to Western horticulture in the 19th century as an ornamental "Abyssinian banana," prized for its enormous paddle-shaped red-bronze-green leaves; the cultivar 'Maurelii' with wine-red leaves is particularly popular. Ensete ventricosum has been cultivated in the Ethiopian highlands for over 8,000 years, making it one of Africa's oldest domesticated crops.

The fermented pseudostem product, kocho, is the primary calorie source for over 20 million Ethiopians. The plant was brought to European attention by 19th-century explorers. The ornamental cultivar 'Maurelii,' with its dramatic red-flushed leaves, was discovered in the early 20th century and became a staple of Victorian-style tropical bedding schemes worldwide.

Symbolism & meaning

Related plants

Plants with similar care

• Pink Sand VerbenaAbronia umbellata
• Drooping AgapanthusAgapanthus inapertus
• Tall Kangaroo PawAnigozanthos flavidus
• Narrowleaf MilkweedAsclepias fascicularis

Frequently asked questions