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Musa × paradisiaca 'Praying Hands'

Family Name:	Musaceae
Synonyms:	Musa 'Praying Hands'
Common Name:	Praying Hands Banana, Ripping (Philippines)

Full Sun

Semi Shade

Lots of Water

Bird-Attracting Plant

Fruit or Vegetable

Ornamental Flowers

Herbaceous Plant

Musa x paradisiaca 'Praying Hands', immature fruits & inflorescence

Musa x paradisiaca 'Praying Hands', immature fruits & inflorescence bract

Musa x paradisiaca 'Praying Hands', immature fruits where flower remanants had dropped off

Musa x paradisiaca 'Praying Hands', fruiting inflorescence

Musa x paradisiaca 'Praying Hands', inflorescence bud

Musa x paradisiaca 'Praying Hands', flower remnants at base of fruits

Musa x paradisiaca 'Praying Hands', close-up view of flowers

Musa x paradisiaca 'Praying Hands', fallen inflorescence bracts

Musa x paradisiaca 'Praying Hands', view of rippled texture of leathery inflorescence bract

Musa x paradisiaca 'Praying Hands', plant in landscape

Musa x paradisiaca 'Praying Hands', plant grown in ground in landscape

Musa x paradisiaca 'Praying Hands', frond

Musa x paradisiaca 'Praying Hands', pseudostem

Name

Family Name
Genus Epithet
Infraspecific Epithet
Name Status (botanical)
Synonyms
Common Names
Comments

Classifications and Characteristics

Plant Division	Angiosperms (Flowering Seed Plants) (Monocotyledon)
Plant Growth Form	Herbaceous Plant
Lifespan (in Singapore)	Perennial

Mode of Nutrition	Autotrophic
Plant Shape	Shrubby
Maximum Height	3.5 m to 5 m

Biogeography

Native Distribution	Indonesia
Preferred Climate Zone	Tropical

Description and Ethnobotany

Others - Plant Morphology	Herbaceous shrub, up to 5m height when planted in ground, smaller if grown in pots. Fronds glossy green, broad and large, 1m or more in length. Rigid pseudostem (trunk) initially arising as sucker from underground rhizomes, made up of overlapping fleshy frond-sheaths. Pseudostems and underside of leaves have whitish powdery coating.Flowers yellow, inconspicuous, held in long racemes (fruiting stem), enclosed by scarlet-red leathery bracts. Plant is monoecious, with separate male and female flowers in inflorescence on the same plant. Flower pollinated by ants, bees and birds. Female flowers can also set sterile fruits without pollination by means of parthenocarpy.Fruits ("fingers") are pulpy berries with leathery outer peel, formed in layers called combs or "hands" consisting of 10 - 20 bananas each, with several "hands" per fruiting stalk. Each "hand" consists of many "fingers" packed closely into a fused mass, which resembles a baseball mitt or a cupped hand. Two adjacent "hands" lying next to each other form what appears to be a clasped pair of hands. Fruits ripen (without splitting) from green to yellow in 2 - 3 months, with edible vanilla-flavoured pulp.Dwarf cultivar from Saba sub-group of typically massive banana species. Plant is ABB triploid, formed from hybridization of pulpy-fruited Musa acuminata (diploid AA) and Musa balbisiana (tetraploid BBBB), producing short, plump and sweet "Lady Finger" type fruits, suitable as dessert bananas -- as opposed to Cavendish type of bananas found at supermarkets.Popular collectors' item amongst banana ethusiasts. Ideal for economic gardens, or as focal plant for its unqiue-looking fruits, and to impart tropical feel to the landscape. Vigorous and fast-growing. Prefers moist soils and lots of watering, but does not tolerate being soaked in standing water. Fairly wind-resistant, but avoid locating plant in very windy areas to prevent leaves from being shredded into thin strips. Heavy feeder -- fertilize once monthly if soil is fertile, or once weekly if soil is poor. Prune off dying old fronds from pseudostem for a neater look. Prop up fruiting stem if this is leaning excessively due to the weight of the inflorescence and maturing fruits. Post-fruiting pseudostems may start to decline, so these can be removed to make space for emerging suckers, Propagate by division of suckers and seeds (rarely produced and may not be viable).Genus epithet 'Musa' named after Antonius Musa (63 - 14 BC), physician to first Roman emperor, Octavius Angustus. Also the Arabic name for the fruit, perhaps after Prophet Musa (Moses). Musa x paradisiaca form named by Linnaeus in relation to the Qu'ran's reference to banana as the "Tree of Paradise".
Ethnobotanical Uses	Edible Plant Parts : Edible Fruits Food (Fruit or Vegetable) Others: Ripe fruits can be separated from one another and eaten individually. Each "hand" of fruits can also be sliced across, and the sweet pulp scooped out with a spoon.

Others - Plant Morphology

Herbaceous shrub, up to 5m height when planted in ground, smaller if grown in pots. Fronds glossy green, broad and large, 1m or more in length. Rigid pseudostem (trunk) initially arising as sucker from underground rhizomes, made up of overlapping fleshy frond-sheaths. Pseudostems and underside of leaves have whitish powdery coating.Flowers yellow, inconspicuous, held in long racemes (fruiting stem), enclosed by scarlet-red leathery bracts. Plant is monoecious, with separate male and female flowers in inflorescence on the same plant. Flower pollinated by ants, bees and birds. Female flowers can also set sterile fruits without pollination by means of parthenocarpy.Fruits ("fingers") are pulpy berries with leathery outer peel, formed in layers called combs or "hands" consisting of 10 - 20 bananas each, with several "hands" per fruiting stalk. Each "hand" consists of many "fingers" packed closely into a fused mass, which resembles a baseball mitt or a cupped hand. Two adjacent "hands" lying next to each other form what appears to be a clasped pair of hands. Fruits ripen (without splitting) from green to yellow in 2 - 3 months, with edible vanilla-flavoured pulp.Dwarf cultivar from Saba sub-group of typically massive banana species. Plant is ABB triploid, formed from hybridization of pulpy-fruited Musa acuminata (diploid AA) and Musa balbisiana (tetraploid BBBB), producing short, plump and sweet "Lady Finger" type fruits, suitable as dessert bananas -- as opposed to Cavendish type of bananas found at supermarkets.Popular collectors' item amongst banana ethusiasts. Ideal for economic gardens, or as focal plant for its unqiue-looking fruits, and to impart tropical feel to the landscape. Vigorous and fast-growing. Prefers moist soils and lots of watering, but does not tolerate being soaked in standing water. Fairly wind-resistant, but avoid locating plant in very windy areas to prevent leaves from being shredded into thin strips. Heavy feeder -- fertilize once monthly if soil is fertile, or once weekly if soil is poor. Prune off dying old fronds from pseudostem for a neater look. Prop up fruiting stem if this is leaning excessively due to the weight of the inflorescence and maturing fruits. Post-fruiting pseudostems may start to decline, so these can be removed to make space for emerging suckers, Propagate by division of suckers and seeds (rarely produced and may not be viable).Genus epithet 'Musa' named after Antonius Musa (63 - 14 BC), physician to first Roman emperor, Octavius Angustus. Also the Arabic name for the fruit, perhaps after Prophet Musa (Moses). Musa x paradisiaca form named by Linnaeus in relation to the Qu'ran's reference to banana as the "Tree of Paradise".

Ethnobotanical Uses

Edible Plant Parts : Edible Fruits
Food (Fruit or Vegetable)
Others: Ripe fruits can be separated from one another and eaten individually. Each "hand" of fruits can also be sliced across, and the sweet pulp scooped out with a spoon.

Landscaping Features

Desirable Plant Features	Ornamental Flowers, Ornamental Fruits
Landscape Uses	General, Focal Plant, Container Planting
Thematic Landscaping	Economic Garden, Naturalistic Garden

SGMP Treatment

Fauna, Pollination and Dispersal

Fauna Pollination Dispersal Associated Fauna	Bird-Attracting
Pollination Method(s)	Biotic (Fauna) (Cultivars can also set sterile seedless fruit by parthenocarpy., Insects (Bee), Insects (Ant, Beetle, Fly, Thrip, Wasp), Vertebrates (Bird))

Plant Care and Propagation

Light Preference	Full Sun, Semi-Shade
Water Preference	Lots of Water
Plant Growth Rate	Fast

Rootzone Tolerance	Easy to Grow, Fertile Loamy Soils, Well-Drained Soils
Pruning	Old drooping fronds can be pruned off to provide clearance below plant.
Fertilizing	Musa species are heavy feeders. Fertilize once monthly if soil is good, once weekly if soil is poor.
Diseases	Panama disease, Black Sigatoka (leaf spot disease)
Propagation Method	Seed, Sucker, Division
Propagule Establishment Remarks	Soak seeds in warm for a day & night, before sowing in sandy-peat mix. Germination may take up to 6 months.
Maintenance Requirements Remarks	Prop up plant, if fruitng inflorescence is too heavy and causes plant to lean.

Foliar

Foliage Retention	Evergreen
Mature Foliage Colour(s)	Green
Mature Foliage Texture(s)	Smooth

Foliar Type	Simple / Unifoliate
Foliar Arrangement Along Stem	Whorled
Foliar Shape(s)	Non-Palm Foliage (Oblong)
Foliar Venation	Parallel
Foliar Margin	Entire
Foliar Apex - Tip	Acuminate
Foliar Base	Rounded / Obtuse
Typical Foliar Area	Macrophyll ( 182.25cm2 - 1640.25 cm2 )
Leaf Area Index (LAI) for Green Plot Ratio	3.5 (Shrub & Groundcover - Monocot)

Non - Foliar and Storage

Trunk Type (Non Palm)	Non Woody
Root Type	Underground (Fibrous Root)
Specialised Storage Organ(s)	Underground (Rhizome)

Floral (Angiosperm)

Flower & Plant Sexuality	Unisexual Flowers , Monoecious
Flower Colour(s)	Yellow / Golden

Fruit, Seed and Spore

Mature Fruit Colour(s)	Yellow / Golden
Fruit Classification	Simple Fruit
Fruit Type	Fleshy Fruit , Berry

Image Repository

Images

Others

Master ID	29131
Species ID	3440
Flora Disclaimer	The information in this website has been compiled from reliable sources, such as reference works on medicinal plants. It is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment and NParks does not purport to provide any medical advice. Readers should always consult his/her physician before using or consuming a plant for medicinal purposes.