Such Appeeling Facts
Sunday
The banana variety most people ate until the 1960s was a sweeter, creamier type called the Gros Michel, AKA “Big Mike,” but this was largely wiped out by a fungus called the “Panama disease.” The modern variety is called the Cavendish, but this too is at risk of a modern variant of the same wilting fungus.
Monday
India is the untouchable world leader in total banana consumption, but no country eats more bananas per person than Papau New Guinea.
Tuesday
The term “banana republic” was coined by author O. Henry and came to describe poorer, politically unstable South and Central American countries highly dependent on one export, often fruit, and run by a government heavily influenced by foreign fruit companies.
Wednesday
Bananas are actually a berry, since they contain seeds and grow from a flower. To make things stranger, the plant that bananas grow on is not a tree but the world’s largest herb.
Thursday
Early banana varieties were smaller, about finger-sized, so their name derives from “banan,” the Arabic word for finger. Fittingly, the bunch in which bananas grow is called a “hand.”
Friday
“Musa sapientum” is the scientific name for the banana, and it is Latin for “fruit of the wise men.”
Saturday
In addition to the tasty fruit, you can get paper and even fabric from the banana plant.