Mango tree

Mangoes are juicy stone fruit (drupe) from numerous species of tropical trees belonging to the
flowering plant genus Mangifera, cultivated mostly for their edible fruit.

The majority of these species are found in nature as wild mangoes. The genus belongs to the
cashew family Anacardiaceae. Mangoes are native to South Asia, from where the "common
mango" or "Indian mango", Mangifera indica, has been distributed worldwide to become one of
the most widely cultivated fruits in the tropics. Other Mangifera species (e.g. horse mango,
Mangifera foetida) are grown on a more localized basis.

It is the national fruit of India, Pakistan, and the Philippines, and the national tree of Bangladesh.

Description

Mango trees grow to 35–40 m (115–131 ft) tall, with a crown radius of 10 m (33 ft). The trees
are long-lived, as some specimens still fruit after 300 years. In deep soil, the taproot descends to
a depth of 6 m (20 ft), with profuse, wide-spreading feeder roots and anchor roots penetrating
deeply into the soil. The leaves are evergreen, alternate, simple, 15–35 cm (5.9–13.8 in) long,
and 6–16 cm (2.4–6.3 in) broad; when the leaves are young they are orange-pink, rapidly
changing to a dark, glossy red, then dark green as they mature. The flowers are produced in
terminal panicles 10–40 cm (3.9–15.7 in) long; each flower is small and white with five petals 5–
10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) long, with a mild, sweet fragrance. Over 500 varieties of mangoes are
known, many of which ripen in summer, while some give a double crop. The fruit takes four to
five months from flowering to ripen.

The ripe fruit varies in size, shape, color, sweetness, and eating quality. Cultivars are variously
yellow, orange, red, or green, and carry a single flat, oblong pit that can be fibrous or hairy on
the surface, and which does not separate easily from the pulp. The fruits may be somewhat
round, oval, or kidney-shaped, ranging from 5–25 centimetres (2–10 in) in length and from 140
grams (5 oz) to 2 kilograms (5 lb) in weight per individual fruit. The skin is leather-like, waxy,
smooth, and fragrant, with color ranging from green to yellow, yellow-orange, yellow-red, or
blushed with various shades of red, purple, pink or yellow when fully ripe.

Ripe intact mangoes give off a distinctive resinous, sweet smell. Inside the pit 1–2 mm (0.039–
0.079 in) thick is a thin lining covering a single seed, 4–7 cm (1.6–2.8 in) long. Mangoes have
recalcitrant seeds which do not survive freezing and drying. Mango trees grow readily from
seeds, with germination success highest when seeds are obtained from mature fruits.

Propagated

Mango tree propagation may be accomplished by either planting seeds or grafting of mango
trees. When propagating by seed, trees take longer to produce fruit and are more difficult to
manage than those that have been grafted, thus mango tree grafting is the preferred method of
propagation. In the following article, we’ll discuss how to graft a mango tree and other pertinent
information of this technique.

Useful

The mango leaves are very useful for treating diabetes. The tender leaves of the mango tree
contain tannins called anthocyanidins, which help in treating early diabetes. The leaves are dried
and powdered, or used as an infusion to treat the same. It also helps to treat diabetic angiopathy
and diabetic retinopathy.
Banana Tree
A banana is an edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous
flowering plants in the genus Musa. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called
"plantains", distinguishing them from dessert bananas. The fruit is variable in size, color, and
firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind,
which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. The fruits grow in clusters
hanging from the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless (parthenocarp) bananas
come from two wild species – Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. The scientific names of
most cultivated bananas are Musa acuminata, Musa balbisiana, and Musa × paradisiaca for the
hybrid Musa acuminata × M. balbisiana, depending on their genomic constitution. The old
scientific name Musa sapientum is no longer used.

Musa species are native to tropical Indomalaya and Australia, and are likely to have been first
domesticated in Papua New Guinea. They are grown in 135 countries, primarily for their fruit,
and to a lesser extent to make fiber, banana wine, and banana beer and as ornamental plants. The
world's largest producers of bananas in 2016 were India and China, which together accounted for
28% of total production.

Worldwide, there is no sharp distinction between "bananas" and "plantains". Especially in the
Americas and Europe, "banana" usually refers to soft, sweet, dessert bananas, particularly those
of the Cavendish group, which are the main exports from banana-growing countries. By contrast,
Musa cultivars with firmer, starchier fruit are called "plantains". In other regions, such as
Southeast Asia, many more kinds of banana are grown and eaten, so the binary distinction is not
useful and is not made in local languages.

The term "banana" is also used as the common name for the plants that produce the fruit. This
can extend to other members of the genus Musa, such as the scarlet banana (Musa coccinea), the
pink banana (Musa velutina), and the Fe'i bananas. It can also refer to members of the genus
Ensete, such as the snow banana (Ensete glaucum) and the economically important false banana
(Ensete ventricosum). Both genera are in the banana family, Musaceae.

Useful

Flower

Banana hearts are used as a vegetable[ in South Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine, either raw or
steamed with dips or cooked in soups, curries and fried foods. The flavor resembles that of
artichoke. As with artichokes, both the fleshy part of the bracts and the heart are edible.

Leaves

Main article: Banana leaf

Banana leaves are large, flexible, and waterproof. They are often used as ecologically friendly
disposable food containers or as "plates" in South Asia and several Southeast Asian countries. In
Indonesian cuisine, banana leaf is employed in cooking methods like pepes and botok; banana
leaf packages containing food ingredients and spices are cooked in steam or in boiled water, or
are grilled on charcoal. When used so for steaming or grilling, the banana leaves protect the food
ingredients from burning and add a subtle sweet flavor. In South India, it is customary to serve
traditional food on a banana leaf. In Tamil Nadu (India), dried banana leaves are used as to pack
food and to make cups to hold liquid food items.

Trunk

The tender core of the banana plant's trunk is also used in South Asian and Southeast Asian
cuisine, and notably in the Burmese dish mohinga.

Fiber

Textiles

Banana fiber harvested from the pseudostems and leaves of the plant has been used for textiles in
Asia since at least the 13th century. Both fruit-bearing and fibrous varieties of the banana plant
have been used.] In the Japanese system Kijōka-bashōfu, leaves and shoots are cut from the plant
periodically to ensure softness. Harvested shoots are first boiled in lye to prepare fibers for yarn-
making. These banana shoots produce fibers of varying degrees of softness, yielding yarns and
textiles with differing qualities for specific uses. For example, the outermost fibers of the shoots
are the coarsest, and are suitable for tablecloths, while the softest innermost fibers are desirable
for kimono and kamishimo. This traditional Japanese cloth-making process requires many steps,
all performed by hand.

In India, a banana fiber separator machine has been developed, which takes the agricultural
waste of local banana harvests and extracts strands of the fiber

Paper

Main article: Banana paper

Banana fiber is used in the production of banana paper. Banana paper is made from two different
parts: the bark of the banana plant, mainly used for artistic purposes, or from the fibers of the
stem and non-usable fruits. The paper is either hand-made or by industrial process.

Description

The banana has an underground stem

with adventitious roots (see Booklet No. 1, page 25). It is full of food for the plant.

Alongside the main stem, it has other stems called suckers.

These stems grow into banana plants.

The banana plant produces its fruit and dies. Another sucker replaces it.
The banana plant has large leaves closely rolled up one over the other. Together they
look like a trunk, but they form only an apparent trunk. Inside it there is a bud
which produces leaves. After 7 or 8 months, when some 30 leaves have grown,
the bud produces flowers.

Propogated

Despite what many people think, bananas (Musa spp.) do not grow on trees. Banana
plants are actually perennial herbs, with the trunklike portion of the plant simply
being a stem to support fruit. The bananas themselves are essentially berries that
grow on the plants, and in most cases are infertile. Because bananas do not
typically produce seeds, you need to propagate them in other ways.
Coconut tree
The coconut tree (Cocos nucifera) is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only
living species of the genus Cocos. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to
the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which botanically is a drupe, not a nut. The term
is derived from the 16th-century Portuguese and Spanish word coco meaning "head" or "skull"
after the three indentations on the coconut shell that resemble facial features.

Coconuts are known for their versatility of uses, ranging from food to cosmetics. The inner flesh
of the mature seed forms a regular part of the diets of many people in the tropics and subtropics.
Coconuts are distinct from other fruits because their endosperm contains a large quantity of clear
liquid, called "coconut milk" in the literature, and when immature, may be harvested for their
potable "coconut water", also called "coconut juice".

Mature, ripe coconuts can be used as edible seeds, or processed for oil and plant milk from the
flesh, charcoal from the hard shell, and coir from the fibrous husk. Dried coconut flesh is called
copra, and the oil and milk derived from it are commonly used in cooking – frying in particular –
as well as in soaps and cosmetics. The hard shells, fibrous husks and long pinnate leaves can be
used as material to make a variety of products for furnishing and decorating. The coconut also
has cultural and religious significance in certain societies, particularly in India, where it is used
in Hindu rituals.

Description

The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is an erect palm in the family Arecaceae which is grown its
fruits, used primarily for the extraction of coconut oil for use in cooking. The coconut palm has
an erect or slightly curved stem which grows from a swollen base. The stem is smooth, light gray
in color and has prominent leaf scars. The stem is topped with a crown of 60–70 spirally
arranged leaves. The leaves are long (up to 7 m/23 ft), pinnately divided and composed of 200–
250 tapering leaflets. The inflorescence is a spike produced at the leaf axil with 20–60 branches,
each with a female flower at the base and many male flowers. The fruit is a drupe containing a
single seed. It is ovoid in shape with three sides divided by ridges. The exocarp and the mesocarp
make up the husk of the coconut. The seed is protected by a thick, stony shell, or endocarp, and
is partially filled with a liquid known as coconut water. The edible endosperm is white and
meaty and can be between 1.0 and 2.5 cm (0.4–1.0 in) thick. Coconut palms can reach a height
of 30 m (98 ft), produce up to 75 fruits a year, and live for up to 90 years. The origin of the
coconut is unknown although the center of genetic diversity lies in Southeast Asia.

Propogated

Coconut palms are propagated exclusively from seed. The seeds are ready for planting when the
coconut milk can be heard sloshing around inside the seed when it is shaken. Seeds are
germinated by planting in seed beds before transferring to a polythene bag or nursery beds after
germination. Seeds should be planted on their sides in a shallow hole with enough soil to cover
about one third of the seed. The seed should be watered regularly to prevent it drying out.
Germination usually occurs after about 3 months but may take up to 6 months.
Useful

Coconuts are primarily cultivated for their oil. The oil is extracted from the endosperm and is
used in cooking. Low grade oils are used in the production of soaps. The endosperm can be
consumed fresh or dry and is commonly grated for use in baking. Young coconuts, termed
waternuts, are commonly sold in tropical resorts, where the liquid is drunk directly from the
shell. Coconuts may also be used to produce coconut milk by squeezing the liquid from the
grated endosperm. Coconut milk is popularly used in many dishes from Southeast Asia.