Is a banana tree a weed?

Question

I have heard the banana trees are actually weeds. I never heard the full explanation, but something to do with the tree dying every year and a new one growing. Is that true?

Answer 1

It's a plant. They grow close to the parent plant, which is why a new one comes up every year.
It's really cool to see one while it's bearing fruit. Quite a peculiar sight! Here's a link to tell you more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana

Answer 2

First you need to understand the definition of a weed. A weed is any unwanted plant. If you don't want bananas in your yard and find one there, it is a weed. If wheat is growing in your tomato patch, it is a weed. If you have sunflowers in a wheat field, it is a weed.
Anecdote: my father went to Washington state for a vacation. They were selling flowers. My father looked at them and told the sales clerk he didn't want any. He also told her that back home they were weeds which didn't do the wheat any good. Not surprisingly, she was not happy to hear that her pretty flowers were weeds.

So that is a weed. Now, based upon this, is a banana tree a weed?

Answer 3

Banana is the common name used for herbaceous plants in the genus Musa, which because of their size and structure, are often mistaken for trees. Bananas are cultivated for their fruit which bear the same name, and to a lesser extent for the production of fibre and as ornamental plants. Bananas are of the family Musaceae.
Musaceae is a botanical name for a family of flowering plants. The family is native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. The plants have a large herbaceous growth habit with leaves with overlapping basal sheaths that form a pseudostem making some members appear to be woody trees.

this info is from wikipedia...

it is true that if you cut a banana plant in half it would grow again, and also ´baby ´plants grow around the ´parent´plant! however, i dont think that it can be considered a weed!

Answer 4

another reason eating bananas are NOT weeds is that they produce no seeds so they can't get spread around and grow where they are not wanted (then they *would* be weeds). A patch of banana "plants" is really only one plant that is under the ground, producing a number of shoots that look like trees (but aren't).

Answer 5

Spot on Jack. In the right climate they are very tough and hard to eradicate too. I have heard that in Queensland, Australia, people are not allowed to grow bananas in their backyards as they can breed diseases which can then get into the commercial crops.

Answer 6

They are trees, but when you take the bananas off they aren't any good anymore so they are cut down and will grow back.

Answer 7

Not quite sure how to answer this

Answer 8

That is a great question