Is the Red Abyssinian Plant Toxic to Cats?

Abyssinian Banana Plants

• The Abyssinian banana plant is not a banana plant (Musa x paridasiaca) at all, but it looks like one. Its sturdy trunk grows to 40 feet in the tropics, 20 feet when planted in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 through 11. It even grows fruit that look like miniature bananas, just three inches long, decorative but inedible. The species is grown for its 20-inch, showy leaves that add a tropical allure to a backyard or garden.

"Maurelii" Cultivar

• "Maurelii" is a cultivar of the Abyssinian banana plant. Its red foliage and leaf axils have earned it the common name of red Abyssinian banana. This cultivar is easier to fit into a backyard since it stays about half as tall as the original species, only rising to 20 feet in tropical climates, 10 feet in temperate ones. Its leaves are proportionately smaller as well. The plant's white flowers appear in summer after the plant is three to five years old. Some gardeners chop the plants to the ground every year, and these may never flower or fruit.

Care

• This perennial with its tropical heritage needs sun to thrive; although it can grow in partial shade, full direct light is best. Plant it in well-drained, organically rich soil. The plant also needs adequate irrigation to keep the soil moist during its summer growing season. The red Abyssinian banana plant should be protected from harsh winds and cold air currents; its large leaves tear very easily.

Toxicity

• The red Abyssinian banana plant is not toxic. In fact, in Ethiopia the plants are a food crop and leaf stalks and pseudostems provide starchy nourishment to some 15 million people. Ethiopians boil the plants' rhizomes and eat them like potatoes, consume the seed endosperm and use the flower stalk as a vegetable. The plant provides food for livestock as well. Not surprisingly, Abyssinian banana plant does not make the ASPCA's toxic plant list for cats, and your kitty should be safe around it.