Herbaceous, subarborescent, stoloniferous, 5-6 m tall tree; pseudostems cylindrical, smooth, consisted of convolute leaf sheaths; leaves very large, midrib stout, oblong, undulate, glabrous, bright green above, paler beneath; petioles with expanded bases; spikes solitary, terminal, drooping, peduncle almost as long as the leaves; bracts large, spatheceous, ovate, many flowered, coriaceous, usually deciduous, purple, lower much larger than the upper ones; tepals 6, creamy white, 3-inner and 2 outer tepals connate into 3-5 lobed tube splitting down on one side, posterior, inner tepal free, situated opposite the split, embracing the base of the stamens and style; stamens-5, perfect, 6th rudimentary or absent, free, as long as the perianth, filaments erect, stout, filiform, anthers erect, oblong; ovary 3-celled, many ovuled, style filiform, thick, erect, slightly curved, stigma sublglobose, 3-6 lobed; berries pulpy, oblong, elongated, 3-5 angled, greenish-yellow when ripe, about 10-15 cm long, many seeded in wild, seedless in cultivated.