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Bananas
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| Bananas are not grown on trees. They are part of the
lily family, a cousin of the orchid and are nothing more than a yellow
and plump member of the herb family. With 25 feet high stalks, it
is the largest plant on earth without a woody stem.
They are though to have originated in Malaysia, but spread throughout Asia, India and Africa before Columbus discovered America. Unknown in this hemisphere before then, bananas came to the New World in 1516 when Spanish missionary Friar Thomas de Berlanga brought over the first rootstalks. The word banana is African although it was carried to the New World by Portuguese slave traders. In Alexander the Great’s time, bananas were called “palas” in ancient Greece. Today the average American consumes about 25 pounds a year of this mellow yellow fruit. Every single one of them is imported from Central America, where the climate favors the warmth-loving plant. Rich in potassium, vitamins B, A, and C, bananas are not only one of the most popular fruits, but are considered very healthful by some American Medicine Journals. |
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