Musa paradisiaca Dwarf Orinoco

Musa x paradisiaca 'Dwarf Orinoco' is a dwarf banana tree with edible fruit. It is a clone of the famous Orinoco banana with shorter vegetation, also known as Topocho or Bluggoe. Resistant to wind, drought, and cold, it offers unique fruits, with a triangular or square shape, to be enjoyed green or yellow. Green bananas, harvested early, transform into delicious fried treats, while ripe yellow bananas have sweetness and fragrance. Their soft texture and sweet and tangy taste distinguish them from supermarket varieties. This easy to grow banana requires patience and ideal conditions to fully ripen.

Originally from the Orinoco Valley in Venezuela, Musa x paradisiaca 'Dwarf Orinoco', also called Orinoco or Bluggoe and Topocho or Platano Burro in Spanish-speaking countries, is a cultivar of banana tree with smaller dimensions than its cousins. This herbaceous perennial plant, a member of the Musaceae family, has a tuberous rhizome. Mainly cultivated in Florida, it is known for its compact size and adaptation to tropical climates. This dwarf banana tree has rapid and short growth, typically reaching a height of 1.5 to 2 metres. The trunk, called a stipe, is composed of basal leaf sheaths arranged in a spiral, similar to the structure of palm trees. However, the banana tree is an annual plant, meaning it dies after fruit ripening, making way for new trunks that emerge from the rhizome buds each year. Its thick leaves are 1 to 2 metres long and fold along the midrib. They demonstrate good resistance to winds, which often lacerate the leaves of other banana species. In summer, it produces yellow-white flowers grouped in showy paniculate clusters resembling spikes, with female flowers at the base of the floral stem and male flowers at the top. Its fruits, bananas, measure 10 to 20 cm in length, with a triangular or square cross-section, rather short and stout. They are grouped in bunches of several dozen fruits, usually weighing 8 to 15 kg in total. After fruiting, the banana tree dies, but it produces suckers, ensuring the emergence of new stipes. The ripening of a bunch of bananas takes several months, which is why producing bananas outdoors, outside of greenhouses, proves to be a significant challenge.

The bananas of Musa 'Dwarf Orinoco' can be enjoyed both when green and when ripe. When fully ripe, they may sometimes have small dark cracks, which are characteristic. These bananas belong to the ABB group. Bananas in this group have a dual purpose: their relatively starch-rich fruits are suitable for cooking, but can also be eaten fresh when fully ripe. In addition to their culinary versatility, these plants have some resistance to drought and cercosporiosis (a leaf fungal disease), which is a notable advantage.

With patience, the 'Dwarf Orinoco' variety offers the opportunity to discover delicious fruits. It is resistant to frost down to -7 or -8°C. The term 'Dwarf' suggests a modest stature, limited to 2 to 3 metres in height, offering optimal adaptability for greenhouse cultivation, even in less favourable regions. Ideally, place it as a solitary plant in the middle of a lawn, or better yet, within a landscape composition evoking a tropical atmosphere or the charm of distant islands, alongside plants such as Beschorneria yuccoides, Melianthus major, Chamaerops humilis, Cordylines, Agaves, or Yuccas. It blends perfectly with remarkable plants such as Cannas, Tetrapanax papyrifera Rex, Fargesias, or Miscanthus, bringing a distinctive exotic touch to temperate gardens. Its modest size makes it easy to grow in large outdoor pots that can be brought indoors in winter. When placed in a large container, it becomes an elegant decoration for the terrace on its own. In this context, it harmoniously pairs with other conservatory plants such as Nerium oleander, citrus trees, Chilean myrtle, mimosas, or Strelitzia reginae.

Like many perennial plants, banana trees go dormant during winter, with their above-ground parts drying out and dying. Plants shipped in winter are therefore pruned to the ground (leaves and stems) by our teams, promoting optimal growth in spring.