Bananas originated in Southeast Asia and the western Pacific region and spread to the rest of the world. Although the origin and evolution of banana is still speculative, new ideas obtained from phytoliths and molecular research are presented. The chapter describes the taxonomic position of Musa and highlights the questionable nature of sections in view of new molecular data. The general morphology of the plant is presented and the different genomes, their sizes and ploidy levels in Musa are described. The role of Musa as a food crop, the main banana producing countries and the number of hectares that the crop occupies in the world is highlighted. Nutritional information on banana is summarized. The academic importance of the crop with respect to genomics studies, polyploidy, as a non-model crop for proteomics studies, breeding and cytogenetics are outlined. Although banana breeding is hampered by many factors the crop offers many new opportunities for genetic improvement by the discerning scientist. Banana breeders have largely relied on the introgession of genes from closely related wild plants to increase genetic variation in the cultivated varieties. The value of wild plants as sources of resistance for major diseases and pests of banana are discussed. While writing this chapter it became evident that research in Musa remains dynamic and new research groups are constantly adding information about the crop.