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Name: sharon
Status: student
Grade: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
Is a banana tree really a tree? What exactly constitutes a tree?

Replies:
Dear Chris,

A tree is defined by who you are. To most people, a tree is something living longer than a year and has the general shape of a single thick stem with leaves or branches with leaves. So a banana plant is a tree. For specialists who work with plants, a tree is defined more specifically. In addition to the general definition is the specific requirement that there is growth in the diameter of the single thick stem (technically called wood formation). By this definition, a banana is not really a tree.

Jim Tokuhisa
Assistant Professor of Horticulture
Virginia Tech

A banana plant is not a tree because it does not contain wood:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s1453046.htm

Anthony Brach Ph.D.


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