|
O D D I T I E S |
tj|tl|in|ca|st |
W E L L H U N G B A N A N A S
US Botanic Garden
Washington D.C.Friday, October 29, 2004
I have to admit, I'm a bit hesitant about adding this oddity from the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington D.C. since I don't wish to offend anyone. But, it's just too odd to ignore, so here we go.
Bananas are really strange. Did you know that the fruit of a banana tree is actually considered a berry? You think a banana tree is really a tree? Guess again. The banana plant is actually a gigantic herb. It grows from an underground stem called a rhizome, and forms a trunk-like structure (false trunk) with leaves. You think bananas are edible? Wrong again, they are very poisonous. Millions of people have died from ingesting just a small portion of the toxic berry. Oh, wait... I got a little carried away there. Bananas are edible, I just don't like them. Sorry about that.
According to Ask a Scientist, "The banana (Musa accuminata) is a berry formed from a superior ovary of
three joined carpels arranged in an axile placentation" ... "The flowers are born on long and pendulous inflorescence which are usually unisexual, that is, the female flowers are born near to the base of the peduncle (producing the typical banana berry fruits) whilst the male flowers are born on the tip of the same peduncle."
Huh???
I'll boil this down in laymen's terms for ya. The banana flower is a pretty freaky looking thing, a structure that is certainly alarming to most men and women.
<<<
Oddity
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
>>>
|