banana

& a. [In Sw. banana sträd; Fr. banane, the fruit, and bananier, the tree; Sp. banana, banano, bananas; Port. banana.] A. As substantive: 1. A tree, the Musa sapientum of botanists. To the superficial observer it looks like a palm, but the leaves are e entially different. Tearing in long stripes, like those of endogens in general, they differ from the normal type in doing so transversely on either side from the midrib, instead of longitudinally. The flowers also are different, and the nearest affinity of the order Musaceæ, of which it or its congener, the plantain, is the type, is with the gingers and arrowroots, and not with the palms. The banana is about twenty feet high. It re THE BANANA AND ITS FRUIT. sembles the plantain so closely that some think it a mere variety of that species; but it differs in having the stalk marked with dark purple stripes and spots, and po e ing a shorter, more rounded, and more luscious fruit. Originally from the Eastern hemisphere, but now cultivated also in the tropics of America. 2. The fruit of the banana-tree. It grows in clusters of long, angular, finger-like fruits, some inches in length. When the rind, which easily comes away, is stripped off, there is found beneath it a soft pulp like that of a fine pear, but more luscious. "The dream is past; and thou hast found again Thy cocoas and bananas , palms and yams, And homestall thatched with leaves." Cowper: Task, bk. i. B. As adjective: Pertaining to the banana; feeding on the banana. (See the compounds.) banana-bird, s. A bird, Xanthornus icterus , belonging to the family Sturnidæ (Starlings), and the sub-family Oriolinse, or Orioles. It is tawny and black, with white bars on the wings. It is gregarious, a multitude of individual nests hanging from the ends of contiguous twigs. It occurs in the West Indies and the warmer parts of Continental America. It has some affinity to the Baltimore Bird (q.v.).