Musa spp.

The many species of banana cultivated worldwide are natives of the Old World tropics. Along with the edible species with their many cultivars are species grown for other uses such as thatching, fibers for clothing and hemp, animal fodder, for production of dyes, and for the immature flowers and leaf buds for use as vegetables.  Legends and proverbs about this plant abound in countries where it is grown.  Although the fresh fruit of the edible forms are commercially important, cooking bananas are much more preferred in many areas.  A great number of the varieties brought to Hawaii by the early Polynesians have been lost.