What are the differences between plantain and banana? A quick guide to telling the two fruits apart

The banana tree and the plantain tree are easily confused species, so today come with me to look at the differences between banana and plantain.

The plantain tree belongs to the family Musaceae, genus Musa. It is a large evergreen perennial herb. The stem reaches 3-4 m tall, unbranched, growing in clumps. The leaves are large, up to 3 m long and about 40 cm wide, long-elliptical in shape, with a thick midrib and parallel veins on both sides; the upper leaf surface is light green and the underside is powdery white. In early summer, large pale yellow flowers emerge from the leaf cluster. "Spreading like a tree, yet not woody in nature, rising tall and trailing shade" is how earlier writers vividly described the form, substance and bearing of the plantain.

Plantain tree morphological characteristics: a tall herbaceous plant, single-stemmed and unbranched, fruiting once or several times. Leaves are spirally arranged, with a thick midrib and many pinnate parallel veins; the young leaf is rolled into a tube in the bud. Flowers are usually unisexual, occasionally bisexual, borne in 1 or 2 rows clustered within coloured large bracts. The inflorescence is erect, drooping or semi-drooping. Male flowers are borne within the upper bracts, female flowers (occasionally bisexual flowers) within the lower bracts.

The gamophyllous tepals are in the outer whorl, with 5 (3+2) teeth at the apex, or deeply divided into 3 strips, the middle lobe with a small lobe on each side or without small lobes, the outer teeth or tooth divisions with or without appendages. The choriphyllous tepals are in the inner whorl, oblong to nearly round, entire or with a tail-like tip or with 3 points, in the latter case the lateral lobes nearly round and the middle lobe narrow and long with a long pointed tip.

Plantain tree growing habits: it likes warmth and has weak cold tolerance, strong stem suckering ability, tolerates semi-shade, is fairly adaptable and grows relatively fast.

Plantain tree propagation method: propagate by division. When the leaves wither in late autumn, cut off the dead leaves and earth up around the roots to protect them. Wrap the remaining stem from the base upward with rice straw. The following early April, remove the straw, and when many young shoots have grown from the roots, division propagation can be carried out. When transplanting, apply organic fertiliser in the pit as a base fertiliser.

The banana tree and the plantain tree both belong to the family Musaceae, genus Musa, and are very similar in colour, scent, taste and shape; there is almost no difference in tree form, leaves or height. To tell them apart, you can only start from the fruit's outward shape, colour and taste. In outward shape, the banana is curved like a crescent moon, with a short fruit stalk and 5-6 ridges on the peel. The plantain is thinner at both ends and thicker in the middle, slightly flat on one side and slightly curved on the other, forming a "circular-segment" shape. Its fruit stalk is longer, and the peel has 3 ridges.

In colour, the banana is green when unripe and turns yellow when ripe, with brown speckles; the flesh is yellowish-white and the cross-section nearly round. The plantain peel is greyish-yellow with no speckles when ripe, and the flesh is milky white with a flat-round cross-section. In taste, the banana has a rich fragrance and a sweet flavour. The plantain tastes sweet but has a sour aftertaste.

In addition: the banana tree is relatively "short and stout", with broad leaves and a thick stem. The leaves and stem tend toward blue-green and are covered with a white bloom. The plantain tree is relatively "tall and thin", with narrower leaves and a thinner stem; the leaves and stem tend toward yellow-green and have no white bloom.

That is the full content of my summary of the differences between plantain and banana; I hope this article can help everyone. Please also keep following us.