- Avocado
- Banana
- Breadfruit
- Coconut
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- Custardapple
- Dragonfruit
- Durian
- Guava
- Jackfruit
- Jujube
- Langsat
- Longan
- Longkong
- Lychee
- Mafai
- Mango
- Mangosteen
- Maprang
- Papaya
- Passionfruit
- Pineapple
- Pomegranate
- Pomelo
- Pumpkin
- Rambutan
- Roseapple
- Soursop
- Starapple
- Starfruit
- Sugarapple
- Tamarind
- Tangerine
- Watermelon
Banana don't grow on trees. The "banana tree" is in fact a herbaceous plant which looks like a tree. This page provides some basic information on bananas, followed by some photos and a few banana recipes.
| Scientific name: | Musa sp. e.g. Musa acuminata |
| Family: | Musaceae |
| Order: | Zingiberales |
| Common names: | English: Banana, Plantain Dutch: Banaan, Pisang German: Banane French: Bananier Spanish: Banana, Plátano Italian: Banana |
| Varieties, cultivars: | The most popular dessert banana is a cultivar called "Cavendish". Fruits of most banana cultivars are yellow when ripe, but some produce fruits with a red or purple color. There is a big variety in fruit texture and sweetness. Ripe fruits are eaten raw or cooked. Unripe bananas or plantains have a green color and are used in cooking. |
| Origin: | Tropical South-East Asia |
| Distribution: | Bananas are grown in almost all tropical regions |
| Evergreen or deciduous: | Evergreen |
| Leaves: |
Bananas have big, oblong or elliptic leaves with fleshy stalks. Most plants have between 5 and 15 leaves, which are arranged in a spiral. leaves can be up to 3 meter long and 60 cm wide. Older leaves often get damaged and have a ragged appearance. Usually leaves are entirely green, but sometimes green with maroon spots, and sometimes they underside of the leaf may be red purple in color. |
| Stem: |
Bananas are herbaceous plants and have a pseudostem. Because of this pseudostem, which can reach 2-8 meter, they are sometimes mistaken for trees. The pseudostem is a cylinder of leaf-petiole sheaths. |
| Climate and weather: | Bananas grow in tropical and near tropical regions. |
| Height: | Up to 8 meter |
| Blooming period | All year round |
| Type of soil: | Prefers deep, well-drained soil. Bananas can grow and produce fruits under very poor conditions. |
| Moisture: | Does not like water logging. |
| Growth rate: | Fast |
| Spacing (close range) | 2 meter |
| Spacing (wide range) | 3.5 meter |
| Propagation: | Banana plants have suckers that spring up around the main plant
forming a clump or "stool'. When the main plant fruits and dies, it will
be replaced by the the eldest sucker. This process of succession can
continue forever.
The suckers are used for propagation. Suckers are usually transplanted just before they produce wide leaves that resemble those of the mature plant but smaller. Banana seeds are only used for propagation in breeding programs. |
| Insect pests: | Black weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus (= banana stalk borer, banana weevil borer), Thrips, Spider mites |
| Diseases: | Panama disease (fusarium wilt) is a soil fungus. Black Sigatoka (=Black Leaf Streek) is a fungal leaf spot disease. Banana Bunchy Top Virus is an aphid borne virus disease. |
| Other pests: | Various types of nematodes |
| Harvesting: | Banana bunches are harvested with a curved knife when the fruits are fully developed (75% mature). They then ripen naturally. |
| Uses: | Bananas are usually grown for the fruits, sometimes for the production of fibers, and sometimes they are grown as ornamental plants. In some countries the flower of the banana plant (also known as banana blossom or banana heart) is used as food. It can be eaten raw or it is cooked as an ingredient in soups and curries. |
Proverbs
- Little by little grow the bananas
- No sane person sharpens his machete to cut a banana tree
- Don't ever try to cut the banana tree when a house is in flames (proverb from Kerala, India)
Who knows more proverbs about bananas? Please send me a message.
Recipes
Fruit salad with banana
Ingredients:
200 ml orange juice, 1 cup seedless grapes, 1 orange (peeled and cut in
cubes), 1 banana (peeled and sliced), 1 peach or nectarine (pitted and
cut in cubes).
Instructions:
Mix the fruits. Pour the juice over the fruit. Serve cold
(refrigerated).
