Ensete ventricosum is grown both as a staple food and as an ornamental. Its pseudostems andunderground parts are rich in starches and are used as such in cooking. It is also grown as an ornamental, having large banana-like leaves with a striking purplish midrib. It is subject to attack by a bacterium, Xanthomonas campestrispathovar Musacerum. The only way to avoid the spreading of the disease is in uprooting, burning and burying plants as well as in applying strict control of the knives and tools used to harvest and treat the plants.
Plants of the World Online (2022) Ensete ventricosum. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:584810-1. Accessed 2022-01-21
Wikipedia (2020) Ensete ventriccosum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensete_ventricosum. Accessed 2022-01-21