BANANAS
Musa paradisiaca L. (Musaceae).
Given its scientific name by Carolus Linnaeus in 1753, from plants cultivated in George Clifford's garden in Haarlem, the Netherlands, where Linnaeus worked between 1735 and 1737, and thought to have come from India. Linnaeus wrote a monograph dedicated solely to this plant, because it was such a novelty.
Native to South-East Asia and the Pacific.
Life form: giant herb; dies after flowering.
Parts used: edible fruit; leaves used in a variety of arts and crafts and for fodder in its native habitat.
Ploidy level:
diploid,
triploid and occasionally
tetraploid; most
cultivars are
sterile
triploids.
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