Few images evoke the romance of the tropics more than the broad, swaying leaves of the banana plant.
These trees, or more properly herbs, provide food clothing, building materials and cooking utensils to numerous cultures around the world. Native to the Indo-Malaysian peninsula and brought to the New World by the early Spanish explorers, bananas are thought to be one of the first species of plant domesticated by man. A staple food to many peoples, they are low in sodium and rich in potassium and phosphorus. With their added benefit of providing vitamin C, bananas are consumed by Americans more than any other fresh fruit. Our modern bananas are descended from two major species with their many varieties resembling more one parent or the other.