This plant was originally described in 1989 as "Musa lushanensis J. L. Liu, Acta Bot. Yunnan. 11: 171. 1989. Syn. nov. TYPE: China. Sichuan: Lushan Xian, Shuangshixiang, 700 m, 3 Oct. 1987, J. L. Liu & Z. H. Tang 181 (holotype, XIAS)".

Then in 1997 Wu Te-lin reduced it to synonymy with Musa balbisiana stating considering that it was "indistinguishable from M. balbisiana in almost all aspects of bracts, fruit, and seeds. The slight differences given by the author can be observed within M. balbisiana and, therefore, do not support the recognition of this variant as an independent species".

Most recently, Liu et al studied herbarium material of Musa lushanensis and now consider it to be identical with Musa basjoo.  They consider Wu's analysis to have been flawed.