Banana (Musa acuminata)

Banana is the common name for a large treelike herbaceous flowering plant of the genus Musa and for its elongated, edible fruit, which is botanically a berry. Almost all modern seedless cultivated bananas descend from the wild species Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana or their hybrids, and cooking varieties are distinguished from dessert bananas as plantains in some countries; the fruit is variable in size, color and firmness but is usually elongated and curved, with starch-rich flesh under a peel that changes color as it ripens.