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[[Image:Bananas2.jpg|thumb|right|150px|A cluster of Cavendish bananas]]

[[Image:Bananas2.jpg|thumb|right|150px|A cluster of Cavendish bananas]]

A '''banana''' is a [[herbaceous]] cultagenic [[legume]] of the phylum ''annelida''. Bananas are a tropical fruit from the kingdom ''Plantae,'' the division ''Embryophytes,'' the class ''Liliopsida,'' and the order ''zingiberales''

A '''banana''' is a [[herbaceous]] cultagenic [[plant]] of the genus ''musa''. Bananas are a tropical fruit from the kingdom ''Plantae,'' the division ''Magnoliophyta,'' the class ''Liliopsida,'' and the order ''zingiberales''

The banana was first noted in Kuala Lumpung in [[Malaysia]], and by way of curious travelers made it to [[India]], [[China]], [[Pakistan]], [[Indochina]] and [[Africa]]. By around 1503, [[Ferdinand Magellan]] and other [[Portuguese]] sailors discovered the tropical legumes in their travels to the African continent and populated the [[Peninsula]] with their first banana plantations. The bananas that grew in Africa as well as Southeastern [[Asia]] were not the eight-to-twelve-[[inch]] giants that have become familiar in the U.S. supermarkets today. They were smaller, about as long as a man's finger, but much more plentiful in one bunch. It would be almost four hundred and fifty years later that Americans tasted the first bananas that were imported to their country. Wrapped in tin foil, bananas were sold for 10 cents each at a celebration held in [[Pennsylvania]] in 1876 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the [[Declaration of Independence]].  

The banana was first found in [[Malaysia]], and by way of curious travelers made it to [[India]], [[China]] and [[Africa]]. By 1402 Portuguese sailors discovered the tropical fruit in their travels to the African continent and populated the [[Canary Islands]] with their first banana plantations. The bananas that were growing in Africa as well as Southeast [[Asia]] were not the eight-to-twelve-[[inch]] giants that have become familiar in the U.S. supermarkets today. They were small, about as long as a man's finger. It was almost three hundred and fifty years later that Americans tasted the first bananas to arrive in their country. Wrapped in tin foil, bananas were sold for 10 cents each at a celebration held in [[Pennsylvania]] in 1876 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the [[Declaration of Independence]].  

Before 1960 most bananas were of the cultivar 'Gros Michel'. However they were very vulnerable to disease and have been replaced by the cultivar 'Cavendish' which is considerably more resistant to disease but more vulnerable to bruising creating the need for very elaborate shipping methods. Nowadays, the smaller bananas are less common but can still be found in many eastern supermarkets and other specialty shops.

Before 1960 most bananas were of the cultivar 'Gros Michel'. However they were very vulnerable to disease and have been replaced by the cultivar 'Cavendish' which is considerably more resistant to disease but more vulnerable to bruising creating the need for very elaborate shipping methods.

[[Category:Fruits]]

[[Category:Fruits]]