Margaret Wolf, age 10, of Omaha, Neb., for her question:
HOW DO YOU GET A BANANA TREE?
More than 3.5 billion pounds of bananas are imported by the United States each year. When it is time to ship the crop a considerable distance, the bananas are picked green and a whole bunch at a time. They are allowed to ripen on their way to market. They can be ripened rather quickly when needed for sale by placing them in warm storage houses.
Just about everybody rates the banana as a favorite food item. It's packed by nature in a dirtproof and germproof container, and it's loaded with vitamins A, B and C. Some extra pluses: it rides well in a school lunch box, it's delicious sliced on corn flakes and it can add a big lift to lots of desserts.
The banana grows on a plant that is from 15 to 25 feet in height and looks just like a tree. But it's not a tree since it has no woody trunk or boughs and all trees must have these elements.
Long leafstalks of the plant are wrapped tightly together in a long, stiff bundle. As each new leaf appears at the top of the stalk, it is rolled up tightly like a long, green hot dog. It unrolls as it grows until it finally comes to look like a large drooping feather. Each leaf is about two feet wide and up to 10 feet long. With each new leaf, the plant grows taller.
Growers start banana plants by replanting shoots produced by the roots of mature plants. A plant will reach its full size in about 15 months, at which time it will send out a huge bud at the end of a strong, thick stalk. The bud contains purple bracts, or small leaves that hold flowers. As the stalk grows longer, the bracts roll back and reveal rows of tiny flowers inside. Some of the flowers turn into green bananas.
As the bud sheds the bracts along the stalk of the banana plant, the stalk becomes heavier and slants toward the ground. When the plant matures, the bud falls to the ground. After bearing one bunch of fruit, the banana plant dies.
Bananas grow in the tropical regions of the Western Hemisphere. Some are grown in the Hawaiian Islands and in some parts of Florida but most come from sections along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and Latin America. Brazil is the country that holds the banana growing record of the world. Bananas are also grown in India, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
A large, yellow, smooth skinned banana called the Gros Michel or Martinique is the one most commonly used as fruit in America.
Banana flower is now being produced and should become very popular in the future. It is made by grinding the dried unripened fruit. The experts estimate that banana flour is twice as nourishing as wheat flour. Many doctors find that it is a valuable food product for babies and children.