''Ensete glaucum'', the snow banana, has also been classified as ''Musa nepalensis'', ''Ensete giganteum'', or ''Ensete wilsonii''.

Distribution

This gigantic

monocarpic Monocarpic plants are those that flower and set seeds only once, and then die. The term is derived from Greek (''mono'', "single" + ''karpos'', "fruit" or "grain"), and was first used by Alphonse de Candolle. Other terms with the same meaning are ...

herbaceous plant is native to China,

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

, India,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

(Burma), and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. It grows from in elevation.

Description

''Ensete glaucum'' has a thick, waxy with sometimes bluish tinge, solitary pseudostem. It grows larger than the Abyssinian Banana (''Ensete ventricosum''). Its leaves are long and wide.

Cultivation and uses

The plant is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

, for its unique swollen bulbous base and large leaves. and is used to feed pigs in parts of China. In India the pulp of the fruit is eaten, considered highly medicinal, and given to infants and patients. Young shoots and a flowering part are eaten as a vegetable. The plant is used in religious and domestic celebrations. It is easy to raise from seed. It is an extremely fast growing banana given heat, but not as hardy as the Abyssinian Banana (''Ensete ventricosum''), and is not as well known.

References

glaucum Flora of tropical Asia Flora of Yunnan Plants described in 1820 Garden plants of Asia {{Zingiberales-stub