The versatile banana tree

When I was a pre-schooler that first plant that I saw was the banana plant. It was planted by my father in our backyard. He said that in one year’s time it will bear fruit. I don’t remember if that banana plant bore fruits but what I remember are the leaves that my mother was using for broiling fish. When I entered school my mother would wrap my lunch in the banana leaf.

Another use of the banana plant is the core. That is the cylinder inside the tree. It can be eaten like a vegetable when cooked in coconut milk. In the same vein is the blossom of the banana that is also a vegetable. Don’t forget the best part – the banana fruits.