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Show The banana tree.-The banana tree is a succulent plant, filled with cells containing water. It grows ten or twelve feet in height, and from the top of the tree go forth half a dozen green, smooth leaves, six feet long and a foot broad, curving downward, with a strong mid-rib running through the middle. An individual tree yields only one bunch of fruit, and then dies, or is cut down, but from around its roots have sprung up perhaps as many as a dozen shoots to "bring forth fruit in due season." From this peculiarity it comes to pass that in a comparatively short time a grove of bananas, if left alone or encouraged, will cover over many acres of ground, with hundreds or more of ripe or unripe bunches. |