The mai'a (Musa paradisiaca) or banana is a gigantic herb. The fruit is crescent shaped and the skin can range in color from yellow to green. The mai'a fruit usually has a bract hanging out of the fruit, which has a pua or flower growing on the end of it. The bract ranges in color from purple, red and green
	The mai'a can grow between 8 and 25 feet tall producing 5-9 hands of fruit. A hand is a bunch of bananas. The mai'a takes approximately one year to mature and ripen.
The mai'a also has many uses, one of them being food. When ripe, the entire tree was cut down and the bananas were gathered. The leaves were used in many ways: roofs, a truce flag, bowl and table covers, clothing, sandals, dye, and cattle feed. The trunks of the trees were used as a way to get canoes into the water. Parts of a cut mature tree were added to the imu (underground oven) to add moisture.
	Medically, the ripened fruit was used for asthma. The sap, which was rich in vitamins, was pinched out of the flower buds and given to babies to strengthen them. Most banana trees grow best where it is wet and full of sunshine. The ancient Hawaiians also planted them in valleys.