Plantain

Plantain, (Musa paradisiaca), plant of the banana family (Musaceae) closely related to the common banana (M. sapientum). The plantain is a tall plant (3–10 metres [10–33 feet]) with a conical false “trunk” formed by the leaf sheaths of its spirally arranged leaves, which are 1.5 to 3 m long and about 0.5 m wide. The fruit, which is green, is typically larger than the common banana. The botanical classification of plantains and bananas is so complicated that plantain is variously viewed as a subspecies of the banana, and the banana as a subspecies of plantain.