English: Wild Plantain.
Region: northern South America, Venezuela, Colombia, the Guyanas, northern Brazil, to the Caribbean.
Habitat: humid tropics and subtropics; prefers moist, fertile, humus-rich soil, semi-shady position.
Use: young shoots as a vegetable; medicines and materials; protection to young cacao plants; plant for mulch material; leaves for covering roofs; fibre for making paper.
BotanyHerb; large, 0.5 to 5 metres tall; evergreen; perennial; like a banana plant; forming clumps; spreading by means of offsets.
Flower: sheaths are boat-shaped, often hold water, breeding ground for mosquitoes.