Woo hoo I'm gonna answer all of these =)
Hmmm. Actually....NO. People often refer to the banana plant as a "tree" because it is so large, but it's actually a plant, not a tree.
Banana is the common name used for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa, and is also the name given to the fruit of these plants. They are native to the tropical region of Southeast Asia, the Malay Archipelago, and Australia. Today, they are cultivated throughout the Tropics. [1]
Banana plants are of the family Musaceae. They are cultivated primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent for the production of fibre and as ornamental plants. Because of their size and structure, banana plants are often mistaken for trees. The main or upright growth is called a pseudostem, which for some species can obtain a height of up to 2–8 m, with leaves of up to 3.5 m in length. Each pseudostem produces a single bunch of bananas, before dying and being replaced by a new pseudostem.
The banana fruit grow in hanging clusters, with up to 20 fruit to a tier (called a hand), and 3-20 tiers to a bunch. The total of the hanging clusters is known as a bunch, or commercially as a "banana stem", and can weigh from 30–50 kg. The fruit averages 125 g, of which approximately 75% is water and 25% dry matter content. Each individual fruit (known as a banana or 'finger') has a protective outer layer (a peel or skin) with a fleshy edible inner portion. Typically the fruit has numerous strings (called 'phloem bundles') which run between the skin and the edible portion of the banana, and which are commonly removed individually after the skin is removed. Bananas are a valuable source of Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, and potassium.
Bananas are grown in 132 countries worldwide, more than any other fruit crop.[citation needed] In popular culture and commerce, "banana" usually refers to soft, sweet "dessert" bananas that are usually eaten raw. The bananas from a group of cultivars with firmer, starchier fruit are generally used in cooking rather than eaten raw. Bananas may also be dried and ground into banana flour. Although the wild species have fruits with numerous large, hard seeds, virtually all culinary bananas have seedless fruits. Bananas are classified either as dessert bananas (meaning they are yellow and fully ripe when eaten) or as green cooking bananas. Almost all export bananas are of the dessert types; however, only about 10-15% of all production is for export, with the U.S. and EU being the dominant buyers.
2007-07-15 12:07:08
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answer #2
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answered by Mr. Know-it-all 4
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not really....the plant is a "large" herb with a false trunk...
look here:
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/bio99/bio99783.htm
2007-07-15 11:52:06
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answer #5
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answered by sirbobby98121 7
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