Musa x paradisiaca or the Lady Finger Banana is a giant herbaceaous perennial grown for its small bananas.
Bananas do not have trunks but the upright is a stem rising from the spreading root system. The enormous leaves open out and from the centre of these sprout the flower head on a long pendulous stalk - female on the end, males further up.
Flowers turn to green fruits which ripen then the leaves and stem die back.
This variety is one of the smallest but is best suited to cooler temperate weather conditions.