The banana plant is the largest herbaceous flowering plant. Banana plants are often mistaken for trees. Bananas have a false stem (called pseudostem), which is made by the lower part of the leaves. This pseudostem can grow to be two to eight meters tall. Each pseudostem grows from a corm. A pseudostem is able to produce a single bunch of bananas. After fruiting, the pseudostem dies and is replaced. When most bananas are ripe, they turn yellow or, sometimes, red. Unripe bananas are green.

Banana leaves grow in a spiral and may grow 2.7 metres (8.9 feet) long and 60 cm (2.0 ft) wide. They are easily torn by the wind, which results in a familiar, frayed look.