looks like Musa ornata (ie, a banana) they are related to gingers of course (same order as gingers, calathea, bird of paradise, heliconia etc).

Tim Chapman

It's a banana. No idea what kind. But with the pretty pink flower it 'might be' Musa veluntina. But a lot of others probally have pink flowers.

No, not a Velutina
Velutina fruit skin are pink as well, unlike the photo. See here:

Here is a link that might be useful:

Tim's right, Musa ornata. Are you growing this in Oregon???

Thanks for the help!
The winner of the ID is Toba over in the Tropical forum. Apparently it's a Musa Ornata Lavender.

Lisa, I'm not growing one here although Banana plants seem to do well. The plant in the photo is growing in Miss. and belongs to my DS's friend who couldn't ID it. I don't know how well it will do here, but I'll be bringing back a 'pup' on my next visit!

Here is a link that might be useful: lavender

i'll try to get the link on my site working someday soon (I have most of the ornata naming mess sorted out there), but until then to make a long story short. There is only ONE Musa ornata out there. There are numerous other species and hybrids that are sold as Musa ornata "fill in the blank" Basically most of the ornamental bananas get called ornatas sooner or later. Musa ornata lavendar is usually the true species, but for example Musa ornata 'bronze' is really Musa laterita, etc. There are about a dozen or more misnamed species and hybrids sold as M. ornata.

Tim Chapman

Ooooooohhhh. It is beautiful. I'm in love (again!) Does anyone have any pups to trade???

Just goes to show I've got no clue as to what is cold-hardy and what isn't. I figured these were super-tropical. If you guys can grow the same stuff over there as we do here, then what fun is that? ;-)

So Tim, if the similar varieties that have purple/burgundy bracts AND fruits are not M. ornata, then what are they? I see you have a couple listed as hybrids-- with what? I'm trying to get all the nomenclature straightened out too, as you know.

Its hard to say for sure what all of the hybrids are, as some were field raised (ie open pollinated) in costa rica and elsewhere. The most common cross would be ornata x velutina, i'd imagine there is some laterita blood in there as well. I need to email my webguy about the screwed up pages and a few other things, but i'll post when the links work, as there is lots of good info on the ornata one. A while back we tracked down almost all of the misnamed stuff out there.

Tim C.

and many of these are hardy in zone 8, fortunately. Even M. coccinea will come back, however I just saw a field trial of different edibles at LSU and they also tried M. becarii... it came back ..well half did, but very poorly.

Well, it certainly seems to be doing well in Miss. And is that a heliconia I see to the right of the musas? Sure looks like it. Boy, am I confused...

Okay, M. velutina is the only ornamental species I can think of with pigmented fruits, so that makes sense as a bloodline, but I would have expected to see a bit of its fuzziness passed on to the hybrids. God help me, I've been thinking about all the possibilities here, but I am NOT going to do it, I am not, I am not...

Yes, you need to work on your site, Tim. Every time I get one of those "Fatal Error" messages, I go into a panic! :-)

About 6 years ago I bought seeds of 'M. violacea'. Has been blooming for the past 5 years, and at present has 2 stalks with dark rose colored fruit, but it and the plant look just like the velutina-ornata line. The plant is about 8' tall right now. The fruit always explodesw befor I have a chance to try it. Will watch it better this year. Have had m. coccinea for 8 years and it always blooms.

M. 'violacea' is probably from hybrid stock, or just mislabled. There is a M. violascens which is a very different looking species. Did your fruits have seeds in them? Haven't seen any of the hybrids of M. velutina carry on the trait of fruit opening like that, would be interesting to see. I have a very small M. coccinea blooming right now, but the hybrid musa outside are going nuts right now, very good show this year.

Tim Chapman

Yes, Tim, they did have a few seeds. The fruits this year haven't fully matured yet. It grew slowly for the first 5 years but exploded this year. It's multiplying faster and is twice as tall. The fruits don't really explode but the peel curls back and looks like a star.

That splitting/curling peel habit is very characteristic of M. velutina. Is your plant discernably different than M. velutina? I'm wondering if you could have been sold velutina seeds under another name. I've never seen any of the hybrids or other species do that either, although I kind of wish they would-- it eliminates the guesswork as to when the seeds are ripe.

Lisa, it's somewhat darker than velutina, but not enough to be that different. It is a stronger grower than the velutinas I've seen in this area (Lafayette) but not as tall as I've seen them in New Orleans.

M. velutina can be kind of variable, depending on the growing conditions-- and I don't mean zone. We had a bunch of them where I used to work, and the ones growing in the sunnier, drier spots were quite short (2-4'), the heads small and medium pink, whereas the ones in the shadier, wetter, more fertile spots got up to 5 or 6' or more, with big inflorescences, and the bud looked darker, almost burgundy.

The fuzzy fruits, though, are kind of a giveaway. Are yours fuzzy?