Images may show mature specimens and are provided as a guide only. As plants are living products, the size, shape and appearance of the stock supplied may vary from the images shown.
Nursery Direct
Red Abyssinian Banana
Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’
Everything is included in this price: the plant, free delivery and professional installation
The price you see is the whole job: the plant supplied, delivered free and professionally installed. Done for you.
Supplied in 400mmtypically 1.5 to 2.5m tall on delivery
Want to see the actual plant?
The photo shows this species, not the individual plant reserved for you. Send us an enquiry and we usually reply within 1 business day with photos of the actual stock available in the size you want.
Request photosGetting it in: this size needs about 900mm of clear access. Measure the narrowest point on the route and tell us on the booking call. Standard access is included in the price, and anything unusual is quoted and agreed with you before work begins. What happens on installation day
Looking for a larger size?
Sizes shown are the sizes we currently source in this species. If you need larger specimens, project quantities or a size not listed, our sourcing team can look for it through our national supplier network. We confirm your exact stock with you on the booking call before anything ships.
Send An EnquiryYou order. We do the rest.
After checkout, our team contacts you to confirm site access and book a day that suits. Most orders are delivered and planted within 2 to 4 weeks of your booking call. Nothing else for you to organise.
Registered Australian business, ABN 33 683 675 603. Public liability certificates available on request.
Product Details
Overview & Specifications
Price includes everything: the plant, free delivery and professional installation by our planting team. One price, whole job done.
Red Abyssinian Banana - Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’
The most dramatic large-leaved plant available for a warm Australian garden, Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’ throws paddle leaves up to two metres long with burgundy undersides and deep red midribs. It is not a fruiting banana and it does not sucker, which is exactly why designers use it: one plant stays where it is put, building a single fat pseudostem and a symmetrical fountain of foliage instead of a spreading clump.
Why Red Abyssinian Banana
Leaf scale: Individual leaves are broad enough to change the scale of a whole courtyard within one growing season.
Red pigmentation: Midribs, petioles and leaf undersides carry a deep wine red that intensifies in full sun.
Non-suckering: Unlike edible bananas it produces no pups, so it holds a single clean trunk and never colonises a bed.
Speed: In a warm summer it can add well over a metre, making it the fastest route to a resolved tropical planting.
Symmetry: The rosette arrangement of leaves is naturally even, so it looks composed from every angle without pruning.
Ideal Applications
Poolside statement: Set behind a pool coping where the red undersides catch afternoon backlight.
Tropical layering: Used as the tall canopy element over gingers, cordylines and philodendrons in a resort-style bed.
Courtyard focal point: A single plant in a large pot anchors a small paved space better than any shrub of the same size.
Seasonal drama in cool districts: Grown in a container in Melbourne or Adelaide and moved under cover before winter frost.
Specimen & Installation
Spacing (screening/hedge): 2 to 2.5m centres for a solid foliage wall
Spacing (feature/avenue): 3 to 4m as a standalone specimen
Best Planting Season: Spring and early summer, so the plant has a full warm season to establish before cool weather
Soil & Drainage: Deep, rich, moisture-retentive soil heavily improved with compost, but free draining underneath. It is a heavy feeder and a heavy drinker in summer.
Establishment Care: Water generously and often through the first summer, never letting the root zone dry out completely. Mulch thickly with compost, feed monthly with a nitrogen-rich fertiliser during the growing season, and site it out of strong wind, which shreds the leaves.
Plant Details
Height: 3 to 5m
Width: 2 to 3m
Growth Rate: Fast
Foliage: Evergreen in frost free districts; foliage is burnt back by frost in cold areas
Light: Full sun to part shade, with shelter from wind
Native to: Highlands of Ethiopia and eastern Africa
Flower Colour: Insignificant; rarely flowers in cultivation
Delivery & Installation
Delivery and installation are included in your price
No freight calculators and no separate installation quote for a standard installation. Your price covers specialist plant transport, positioning and professional planting by our installation team. The whole job, handled.
- Wrapped, secured and transported by specialist plant freight.
- Professionally planted, staked and finished by our install team.
- Our team confirms site access and schedules a time that suits you.
Installation
Professional installation included, never extra
Every plant we sell is planted by our professional installation team, and it's already in the price. We coordinate the delivery, the machinery and the planting for standard site access, so your only job is choosing the tree. Unusual access or engineering requirements? We'll confirm everything with you after checkout before any work begins.
Questions? Send An EnquiryWhy Nursery Direct
Every price includes supply, delivery and installation
Buying a mature tree often means three separate jobs: the plant, the freight and finding someone to plant it. We price the whole job as one: the tree, the delivery and the professional install.
- One price: supplied, delivered and installed
- Mature trees and specimen palms at every scale
- National sourcing for hard-to-find stock
- Residential, estate and commercial projects
How It Works
Place your order. We do the rest.
We Supply
Premium advanced stock, selected from a national network of wholesale growers.
We Deliver
Specialist plant freight brings your order to your door. Free, anywhere in Australia.
We Install
Our professional team plants, stakes, mulches and finishes the job on site.







