Ensete ventricosa

…Ethiopian, or false, banana (Ensete ventricosum), prized not for its “false” (or inedible) fruit but for its roots.

The genus Ensete of Africa produces no edible bananas, but the flower stalk of one species, E. ventricosa, is edible after cooking. Species of Ensete are distinguished from those of Musa by their larger seeds. See also abaca; banana; plantain.