Fe'i bananas (also spelt Fehi or Féi) are cultivated plants in the genus Musa, used mainly for their fruit.

The botanical name for Fe'i bananas is Musa × troglodytarum L. Precisely which wild species they are descended from is unclear.

At maturity each pseudostem produces a single flowering stem that grows up inside it, eventually emerging from the top.

The bracts of the flowering spike (inflorescence) are bright shiny green rather than dull red or purple.

[5] One of the earliest detailed accounts of the genus Musa was by the German-Dutch botanist Georg E. Rumpf (c.1627–1702), usually known by the Latinized name Rumphius.

His figure and description of a "species" under the name "Musa Uranoscopos" (meaning "heaven-looking banana") is consistent with a Fe'i banana; he refers to the upright flowering spike (although the figure, reproduced here, shows the terminal bud drooping), the coloured sap, and the effect of consumption on urine.

[6] In 1917, Merrill designated the illustration of Rumphius' Musa uranoscopos as the lectotype of Musa troglodytarum L. On this basis, Häkkinen, Väre and Christenhusz concluded in 2012 that "all Fe'i cultivars, including those featured in Paul Gauguin's famous paintings, should be treated under the name M. troglodytarum L."[6] Other sources also accept this as the scientific name for the group as a whole – for example Rafaël Govaerts in 2004.

On the basis of appearance (morphology), Musa maclayi, native to Papua New Guinea, has been proposed as a parent.

Molecular analysis of bananas with this growth habit from Papua New Guinea has shown evidence of genetic input from M. acuminata and M. balbisiana, the parents of the section Musa cultivars.

[1] They are believed to have originated in the New Guinea area, where cultivars with seeds occur, as do the wild species from which they are thought to be descended.

[1][2] Further, it is not clear whether local names apply to cultivars (i.e. distinct cultivated varieties) or to broader groups.

Thus Ploetz et al. refer to a banana found in eastern Indonesia by the cultivar name 'Pisang Tongkat Langit'.

[3] However, in the Federated States of Micronesia, some cultivars, particularly 'Karat Pwehu', 'Karat Pako' and to a lesser extent 'Utin Iap' (='Uht En Yap'), are commonly eaten raw when fully ripe.

Karat bananas have a soft texture and a sweet taste and were a traditional weaning food in the Micronesian island of Pohnpei.

Fe'i bananas with deeper coloured flesh have been shown to contain high levels of beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A.

A year-long promotional campaign in Pohnpei in 1999 to encourage the consumption of Karat cultivars had some success in increasing sales.

In 1768, Daniel Solander accompanied Joseph Banks on James Cook's first voyage to the Pacific Ocean aboard the Endeavour.

The French Post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin visited the Society Islands, including Tahiti, towards the end of the 19th century.

Three of his works include what are considered to be Fe'i bananas: Le Repas (The Meal, 1891), La Orana Maria (Hail Mary, 1891) and Paysage de Tahiti (Tahitian Landscape, 1891[Note 2]).

[3] Fe'i bananas were one of the main staples of Liv Coucheron-Torpand and Thor Heyerdahl during their one-and-a-half-year stay on the Marquesan island of Fatu-Hiva in 1937–38.