Bananas?

Banana Trees at the Museum?

You might expect to see banana trees in the Conservatory of the Butterfly House with all of its tropical butterflies fluttering about, but did you know that they grow along the Dinosaur Trail?

Banana Trees growing on the Dinosaur Trail.

The most common variety of banana tree grown in our area is a cold hardy species called Musa basjoo. This variety produces fruit, but the fruit are small and full of seeds which makes eating them more work than fun. The bananas that you buy in the store do not have seeds.

Musa basjoo is typically grown as an ornamental here in North America but in Asia it’s often cultivated for its fiber which is used in textiles and cordage.

At least one of the many banana trees along the Dinosaur Trail is currently bearing fruit.

The flowers.
The bananas.

See if you can locate the tree, and its bananas, on the Dinosaur Trail. Hint, you don’t have to leave the trail to see them. And please, don’t pick the bananas. I’ll cut one open as they ripen and let you know how they taste.

Have fun!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.