Banana belong to the genus Musa but the cultivated varieties are barren hybrid forms which cannot therefore be assigned specific botanical names.
These banana hybrids, producing edible seedless fruits are now grown throughout the tropics.
The trunk is composed of a number of cylindrical leaf stalk, with young leaves emerging continuously from the center.
The banana flower cluster, a beautiful sight, developed into the bunch of fruit.
Banana stems, though solid enough on appearance, are made up of tightly packed leaf sheaths; they are in fact ‘pseudostems’.
The fruit is botanically a berry without any seeds. The growth pattern of banana fruit varies with variety and climatic factors.
The fruits appear in a bunch consisting of a number (about 9-12) of half spirals of fruit which are clearly separated from each other and are called ‘hands’.
Banana fruits are used in several different ways. The most widely known are dessert bananas, which because of their high sugar content of 17-19 percent, have a sweet taste and are eaten raw.
Banana (Musa spp)
