The banana plant grows from 2.4 to 9 metres tall and looks like a tree. But it is not a tree because it has no woody trunk or boughs.

Most bananas are eaten as a snack or in cereal, fruit cocktails and salads. Bananas are also used in cakes or pies.

Bananas are rich in carbohydrates. They also contain phosphorus, potassium and vitamins A and C. Dried bananas are eaten as a snack and are made into flour.

The banana industry in Australia is well over 100 years old.

It began in Queensland with the Chinese using wild bananas found around Cardwell and Innisfail to commence the first commercial plantings around about 1883. In 1890 the Cairns district produced about 15 million bunches, around half of Queensland's total production. The industry is now well established in Northern New South Wales and along the Queensland coast.
From The Banana Industry in Australia

There are many different types of bananas and the other parts of the plant are useful as well.

The most common kinds are Dwarf Cavendish, Valery, and Williams Hybrid bananas. Other types of bananas include Apple and a small red banana called the Red Jamaica. A large type of banana called the plantain is hard and starchy and is almost eaten as a cooked vegetable. Generally,only the fruit of the banana plant is used. But the leaves of some kinds of banana plants contain useful fibers. People in many tropical countries use the leaves of these plants to build roofs for houses and to make bags,baskets and mats.

Where bananas grow.

The fruit originated in Asia but is now raised in the tropics of both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. Brazil is the leading banana producer, followed by Uganda, India and the Philipines. Latin - American countries supply more than 90% of the bananas eaten in North America.

How bananas are grown.

Bananas grow in hot ,damp climates and thrive in rich, sandy loam soil that has good drainage. Banana farmers start a crop by cutting growths from the underground stems of mature banana plants. These growths,called suckers, are planted in the ground. Three to four weeks later, tightly rolled leaves sprout from the suckers. The leaves unroll as they grow until they look like large drooping feathers. Fully grown leaves are30 to 61centimetres wide. The “trunk” of the banana plant is really the stalks of the leaves. As the leaves grow, they become tightly wrapped in a bundle.

When the plant is 2 months old, a large bud at the end of a thick underground stem grows from the bundle of leaves. The bud has lots of small purple leaves called bracts. After the stem grows through the top of the plant, the bracts roll back, revealing clusters of small flowers. These flowers develop into tiny green bananas.

A cluster of bananas is called a hand and consists of 10 to 20 bananas, which are known as fingers.