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there is a hardy native species, the Musa Basho. This ranges 

 as far north as about 36 degrees N. L. The plants grow in 

 spring, flower in summer and bear small fruits in clusters, but 

 these never ripen even in the far south of Kiushu. With the 

 oncoming of cold, they are frost-bitten, leaving only their 

 subterranean parts intact. They are simply ornamental plants. 



