Podcast
Questions and Answers
What type of leaves does a mature banana plant produce?
What type of leaves does a mature banana plant produce?
- Cigar leaves
- Rhizome leaves
- Foliage leaves (correct)
- Scale leaves
What characterizes the root system of a banana plant?
What characterizes the root system of a banana plant?
- Roots originate from the surface of the central cylinder (correct)
- Root growth is dependent on leaf type
- Roots grow deep into the soil
- Roots develop primarily from the leaves
Which type of sucker has narrow leaves and a large rhizome?
Which type of sucker has narrow leaves and a large rhizome?
- Flower sucker
- Maiden sucker
- Water sucker
- Sword sucker (correct)
How are the stamens arranged in the androecium of a banana flower?
How are the stamens arranged in the androecium of a banana flower?
What is the structure formed by tightly packed overlapping leaf sheaths in a banana plant?
What is the structure formed by tightly packed overlapping leaf sheaths in a banana plant?
Flashcards
Pseudostem
Pseudostem
A false stem made up of tightly packed leaf sheaths that gives the banana plant its upright structure.
Sucker
Sucker
A lateral shoot that grows from the rhizome and forms a new banana plant.
Rhizome
Rhizome
The underground stem of the banana plant that produces roots and suckers.
Banana Flower
Banana Flower
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Banana Fruit
Banana Fruit
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Study Notes
Banana (Musa spp.)
- Family: Musaceae
- Habit: Perennial, monocot, herbaceous succulent plant
Corm
- A thickened underground stem
- Stores food for the plant
Leaves
- Alternate or spiral leaf arrangement
- Oval or oblong shape
- Scale leaves: first rudimentary leaves from a growing sucker
- Foliage leaves: mature leaves
- Cigar leaves: recently emerged leaves still rolled as a cylinder
- Precursory appendage: extension at the leaf tip
- Long petiole: attaches leaf to the pseudostem
- Midrib: central vein in the leaf
- Leaf blade: broad, flat portion of the leaf
- Leaf sheath: protective covering around the stem
- Pseudostem: false stem, formed by tightly packed overlapping leaf sheaths
Roots
- From the rhizome, called corm
- Primary roots originating from the central cylinder
- Root system does not penetrate deeply into the soil
Pseudostem
- Looks like a trunk
- Formed by tightly packed overlapping leaf sheaths
- The aerial true stem (floral stem) emerges from the rhizome at the top of the plant when the height of the banana plant reaches maximum
- The plant develops suckers
Suckers
- Lateral shoots
- Develop from the rhizome and emerge near the parent plant
- Maiden sucker: a full-grown sucker bearing foliage leaves
- Two types:
- Sword suckers: narrow leaves, large rhizomes
- Water suckers: broad leaves, small rhizomes
Flowers
- Unisexual
- Monoecious: flowers arranged in racemes
- Subtended by coloured bracts or spathes: flowers below coloured bracts/spathes
- Male flowers: within upper bracts
- Female flowers: within lower bracts
- 6 tepals arranged in 2 whorls
- 1 inner tepal free and boat-shaped
- Other 5 united to form tube-like body
- Androecium: 6 stamens, only 5 fertile
Gynoecium
- Inferior ovary
- A cross-section of the ovary shows a 3-lobed structure
Other important points:
- Different types of banana suckers and how to identify them
- Parts of the banana plant (diagram)
- Stages of banana growth
- Various parts and functions of the plant
- Names for different stages and sections of the plant
- Importance of correct plant identification for propagation purposes
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