Editing Musa acuminata (section)

== Flowering, fruiting, and harvest ==

The inflorescence emerges from the center of a mature pseudostem. Female flowers develop into hands of fruit, while the distal male bud remains above them. Pollination is relevant to wild seeded plants; many cultivated banana groups develop fruit parthenocarpically without pollination.<sup id="cite_ref-4">[[#cite_note-4|[4]]]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-5">[[#cite_note-5|[5]]]</sup>

Flower-to-harvest time is variable. A UF/IFAS banana profile gives approximately 80 to 180 days after flowering for banana fruit to ripen, while a separate cultivated-plant profile gives about 6 to 9 months for fruit maturity and notes that the inflorescence may take 10 to 15 months to appear. These figures are not interchangeable across wild plants, cultivar groups, and climates. Harvesting at mature green size and ripening the bunch in a warm, shaded place is common for cultivated bananas; fruit may instead be left on the plant when local conditions and wildlife pressure permit.<sup id="cite_ref-6">[[#cite_note-6|[6]]]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-4">[[#cite_note-4|[4]]]</sup>

After harvest, the fruiting pseudostem dies, while the corm remains perennial and produces new shoots. Removing the spent pseudostem and limiting excess suckers helps direct resources toward a selected successor and its developing bunch.<sup id="cite_ref-4">[[#cite_note-4|[4]]]</sup>