• Question: is it true that a banana is a herb.?

    Asked by shannonxx to Alastair, Emma, Hywel, Keith, Vicki on 17 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Alastair Sloan

      Alastair Sloan answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      Hi Shannon

      The banana plant is a herbaceous plant, but the curved yellow thing that comes from it is technically it’s fruit. So in my opinion bananas are a fruit

    • Photo: Keith Brain

      Keith Brain answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      Pass! I could argue that it’s a sematic matter, but I don’t think I’ve come across that type of matter …

      Did you know that I use very bad puns? 😉

    • Photo: Vicki Stevenson

      Vicki Stevenson answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      the banana plant doesn’t contain any woody tissue so it is a herb, but the bit that we eat (the banana) is a fruit (because it contains seeds – the little black specks you sometimes see at the centre).

    • Photo: Emma Carter

      Emma Carter answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      I think that you can call the banana that you eat a fruit but the plant that produces it is technically a perennial herb rather than a tree. But I’m no botanist so don’t sue me if I’m wrong!

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