Common Name: Darjeeling Banana, Sikkim Banana

Sometimes sold as Musa hookeri, this is a large growing banana from the Sikkim/Darjeeling region of North India. The pseudostem (trunk) grows to about 4.5m (15') tall, 450mm (18") diameter with 1.8m (6') leaves. It suckers readily and can grow a new 1.8m leaf in a week, so will form a large clump within a couple of years. It's natural habitat is in the foothills of the Himalayas, where it occasionally sees snow, so it is doubtless fairly cold tolerant, although most cool temperate gardeners would need to provide some protection to the pseudostem to avoid it dying back to the ground each year.