Most are around 5 m (16 ft) tall, with a range from 'Dwarf Cavendish' plants at around 3 m (10 ft) to 'Gros Michel' at 7 m (23 ft) or more. Cultivated banana plants vary in height depending on the variety and growing conditions. As new growth occurs in the centre of the pseudostem the edges are forced apart.

The edges of the sheath meet when it is first produced, making it tubular. The base of the petiole widens to form a sheath the tightly packed sheaths make up the pseudostem, which is all that supports the plant. The leaves of banana plants are composed of a stalk ( petiole) and a blade ( lamina). Banana plants are among the fastest growing of all plants, with daily surface growth rates recorded of 1.4 square metres (15 sq ft) to 1.6 square metres (17 sq ft). Bananas grow in a wide variety of soils, as long as the soil is at least 60 centimetres (2.0 ft) deep, has good drainage and is not compacted. Plants are normally tall and fairly sturdy with a treelike appearance, but what appears to be a trunk is actually a 'false stem' or pseudostem. All the above-ground parts of a banana plant grow from a structure usually called a ' corm'. The banana plant is the largest herbaceous flowering plant. Both genera are in the banana family, Musaceae. It can also refer to members of the genus Ensete, such as the snow banana ( Ensete glaucum) and the economically important false banana ( Ensete ventricosum). This can extend to other members of the genus Musa, such as the scarlet banana ( Musa coccinea), the pink banana ( Musa velutina), and the Fe'i bananas. The term 'banana' is also used as the common name for the plants that produce the fruit. In other regions, such as Southeast Asia, many more kinds of banana are grown and eaten, so the binary distinction is not as useful and is not made in local languages. By contrast, Musa cultivars with firmer, starchier fruit are called 'plantains'. In the US, as of 2019, these bananas, by poundage, are the most consumed fresh fruit. Especially in the Americas and Europe, 'banana' usually refers to soft, sweet, dessert bananas, particularly those of the Cavendish group, which are the main exports from banana-growing countries. Worldwide, there is no sharp distinction between 'bananas' and 'plantains'. As of 2023, India was producing nearly 30.5 million tons of bananas each year, a little less than 20 million tons more than China. The world's largest producers of bananas in 2017 were India and China, which together accounted for approximately 38% of total production. They are grown in 135 countries, primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent to make fiber, banana wine, and banana beer, and are sometimes even grown as ornamental plants. Musa species are native to tropical Indomalaya and Australia, and are likely to have been first domesticated in New Guinea.

The old scientific name for this hybrid, Musa sapientum, is no longer used.

The scientific names of most cultivated bananas are Musa acuminata, Musa balbisiana, and Musa × paradisiaca for the hybrid Musa acuminata × M. balbisiana, depending on their genomic constitution. Almost all modern edible seedless ( parthenocarp) bananas come from two wild species – Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. The fruits grow upward in clusters near the top of the plant. The fruit is variable in size, color, and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind, which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called 'plantains', distinguishing them from dessert bananas. A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Musa.

Chimpanzee baby bannan