As I have written before, the climate of Mexico City is not really tropical because of its altitude. However, just a block away from Alejandro's home, there is a house where several banana trees have been planted along the street. They have managed to survive the occasional cold temperatures of January nights in the city.
Did you know that technically, a banana tree is NOT a tree? Botanists classify it as an "herbaceous flowering plant" and the fruit as a "leathery berry".
Frequently, when I pass by this house, I see that the plants are producing fruit.
The plant produces a stem, and that bulbous formation at the end of the stem is called a "banana heart". I'm not sure if I correctly understood what I read, but I guess the "heart" unfurls revealing the male flowers which pollinate the female flowers higher up on the stem. The female flowers develop into fruit that we know and love.
And that is your botany lesson for today!
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