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Tonga, or Hopa bananas as they are also known, are a hybrid banana with qualities of a cooking banana, when they are young and green, and of a fresh-eating banana when they are ripe and yellow. When ripe, they have thick, waxy, yellow skin and a bulbous shape with bluntly square ends. The flesh is then soft and sweet. These distinctive bananas are endemic to Polynesia, where they are valued as part of local cultural heritage. The tall plants are fast growing, though short-lived, displaying less resilience than newly bred commercial hybrid bananas.