The phantom of the phoenix

The phoenix of the fruit world must definitely be the banana. Just like the legendary miracle bird reborn from its ashes, a banana tree is reborn from its own roots every year. In reality, a banana tree is not a tree; it is only an enormous herbaceous plant, its trunk being a sturdy stem to carry the flowering head. There is confusing when it comes to the fruit, as the banana is not a fruit itself, but parts of a giant berry. Nothing about the banana is as it seems. 

We think of bananas as exotic fruits. True in a sense, but it may be quite the contrary. The banana plant was first domesticated in Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea; some sources date it as far back as 5000 B.C., or even earlier. However most of the bananas we consume today are of an origin much nearer to us. It is the Cavendish variety, and as the name suggests it is indeed very British. This very British variety was first grown in the 1830's in Chatsworth House, the residence of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, or shortly the Cavendish family. Head gardener Joseph Paxton had a passion for growing exotic fruits from all over the world and got hold of a banana specimen coming from Mauritius. It is believed that he was inspired by Chinese wallpaper depicting banana trees in one of the rooms of the Cavendish house. He lovingly planted a banana tree in the greenhouse of the estate and named it after his patrons. By 1835 there were about 100 bananas hanging on the plant ready to be served to the guests of the Cavendish family. 

This particular plant was the ancestor of almost all commercial banana brands in the European, North American and Chinese market today, with all banana plantations growing the Cavendish clones originally from the Chatsworth plant. Previously, there was another...