like fundamentally what is a banana I've heard that it categorizes as both a fruit and an herb is this true or is the answer something else... (cue twilight-zone theme) Seriously though I want an answer
Technically, the plant is an herb. The banana that you eat however, is a fruit. Is a banana a fruit or a herb? - Oxford Dictionaries (US) Ask a Naturalist.com » Is a banana a fruit or an herb? Bananas are actually a herb, and other fun fruit facts is banana a fruit or herb - Google-Suche
yes but if it is a potato, then that raises another question: what is a potatoe a root? a starch? a vegetable? a candarian demon?chuthulus right hand man? so many questions...
Regardless of what the dictionary says, I think it's technically non of the above...... bananas have been so tampered with by breading that for 9k years they haven't been able to viably reproduce on their own, only through cuttings (cloning); since it doesn't have viable seeds I wouldn't consider it a fruit or berry. I guess that'd make it a rhizome of sorts since it reproduces through parts of the original self which is coincidentally what a potato is. Words still out on whether it's Cthulhu related, however, since I can pronounce it without instantly going mad or type it without a thousand apostrophes, the dead and dreaming old gods are probably not involved. Edit: There are *wild* strains of bananas which *can* reproduce so, they're fruits. The thing we eat though is def. not the same.
True, same thing as nutmeg but I don't think people actually use the rhind as an herb.... people *do* actually use Orange & Lemon peels for flavoring but we don't call them herbs. Edit: I think we should be using the term "Spice" since an herb doesn't have to be a flavoring agent.... I think herb means edible leaves so spinach, etc. Double Edit: Actually I think people do you use banana leaves in cooking sort of like a tortilla or paper plate to package the food in.... so I guess banana leaves are an herb.
herb (h)ərb/ noun 1. any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume. "bundles of dried herbs" 2. BOTANY any seed-bearing plant that does not have a woody stem and dies down to the ground after flowering. So if u follow deffinition 1 than (if banana leaves are edible i think they are) bananana trees are herbs and the bananas are the berries (fruit) of the tree But if you follow definition 2 then bananas have nothing to do with herbs (because they come from trees) and again the banana itself is the fruit So as far as i can tell, yes bananas are fruit.
Yeah I get that *natural* Bananas would fit the definition of a fruit or more likely a berry but, like I mentioned earlier, the problem comes with how intensely cultivated bananas are by humans. I'm too lazy to google this but, I'm almost positive that what we call "bananas" literally cannot propagate naturally, only with human assistance. They do that by taking cuttings and planting them, essentially cloning them. Over literally 10k years humans have shaped bananas through selective breeding to the point where they don't have actual seeds in them and produce more meat. Natural bananas that can still reproduce are about the size of your thumb and are not tasty from what I've heard. I really think the only thing you could call a modern banana is a rhizome since it now reproduces from shoots and the "fruit" itself is just an edible, non-functional part of the plant. There was a whole flap a while ago when a noted creationist said bananas proved god exists because they were clearly designed for use as a "perfect" fruit; he apparently didn't realize that it was indeed designed, just by humans over a longer time span than he claims the Earth is old. He basically debunked his own argument; google a picture of wild bananas and you'll see what I mean. Edit: Here's a picture of a wild banana compared to what we're talking about -
If we asked my Samsung device: Bananas are a fruit. If we asked my Samsung device: ''Do you like bananas?'' Yes and I like their shade of yellow.
