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Despite what you may have heard, bananas don't grow on trees!
尽管你可能听说过，香蕉不长在树上的！
And I know, I know—banana plants look like trees, with tall thick trunks and leaves on top, but they're actually really big herbs.
我知道，香蕉植物看起来像树，上面长着又高又粗的树干和树叶，但是它们其实是大型草本植物。
And the tallest of them all, a wild banana species called Musa ingens, can grow as tall as 15 meters, making it the largest herb on Earth!
其中长得最高的是一种野生香蕉品种巨芭蕉，它们可以长到15米高，是地球上最大的草本植物！
The main thing that disqualifies banana plants from treehood is that they don't have any wood.
将香蕉从树木中除名的一个主要因素是，它们没有任何木头。
Wood is a particularly tough type of plant tissue containing a molecule called lignin.
木材是一种特别坚硬的植物组织，含有一种叫做木质素的分子。
It can be found in a variety of vascular plants—that is, plants with a circulatory system for transporting nutrients.
各种维管植物中都有它—也就是说，植物有一个循环系统来运输营养物质。
Plants with wood are called, quite simply, woody plants. And the group includes true trees and shrubs.
有木头的植物简单地称为木本植物。这个群体包括真正的树木和灌木。
Non-woody vascular plants are called herbaceous plants, or herbs.
没有木头的维管植物被称为草本植物。
Without wood for support, they usually don't grow as tall as trees, but banana plants are an exception.
没有了木头的制成，它们通常长不到树木那么高，但香蕉植物是个例外。
Their "trunk" isn't a trunk, but rather a structure called a pseudostem made of many layers of compacted leaf tissue.
它们的树干不是树干，而是一种被称为假茎的结构，由许多层紧密的叶组织构成。
Beneath all those layers you'll find the true stem.
在所有这些层之下，你会找到真正的茎。
When the plant reaches its full height, this stem sticks out the top to form the inflorescence, which is where the fruits grow.
当植物生长到最大高度时，这种茎从顶部突出来形成花序，也就是果实生长的地方。
A sturdy pseudostem allows banana plants to grow to tree-like proportions despite the lack of wood.
尽管缺乏木材，一根粗壮的假茎却能让香蕉植物长得像树一样。
Even the variety we eat can actually grow as tall as nine meters, which is pretty impressive.
甚至我们吃的那个品种也能长到9米高，这是相当令人印象深刻的。
But in the jungles of New Guinea, Musa ingens really takes the cake.
但在新几内亚的丛林里，巨芭蕉独占鳌头。
Its pseudostem can be two meters wide at the base, and its full height of 15 meters makes it as tall as three giraffes stacked on top of one another!
它的假茎在基部可以有两米宽，它的全部高度为15米，相当于三头长颈鹿堆叠在一起！
And that pseudostem isn't just tall, it's also strong enough to hold up bunches of fruit estimated to weigh as much as 60 kilograms!
假茎不仅高还很结实，足以支撑起一串估计重达60公斤的水果！
After fruiting is done with, these banana plants do another thing that isn't very tree-like: they fall apart.
结果后，这些香蕉植物会做另一件非常不像树木的事情—它们掉落分散。
See, wood not only protects plants, it also allows them to stand tall year after year.
看，木头不仅仅能保护植物，还让它们年复一年地站得高高的。
Herbs die back once they're done with their reproductive cycle, so in banana plants, that whole big structure dies.
草本植物一旦完成了它们的繁殖周期就会死亡，所以在香蕉植物中，整个大结构就会死亡。
But the plant isn't gone for good.
但这种植物不会永远消失。
Small shoots called suckers remain and get ready to grow into the next pseudostem.
被称为吸盘的小芽还在，并准备好长成下一个假茎。
In fact, farmers separate these and replant them to make more banana plants.
事实上，农民们将这些小芽分播并重新种植以长出更多香蕉植物。
So while bananas aren't trees and they can't stand tall for years on end, the banana plant still lives a very impressive life—as tall as three giraffes!
所以虽然香蕉不是树，它们也不能保持伫立，但香蕉植物仍然过着一种令人印象深刻的一生——它有三头长颈鹿那么高！
Now, if you love a good banana like I do, you might be interested to know that the bananas that we eat are weird mutant bananas,
如果你像我一样喜欢好吃的香蕉，你可能会有兴趣知道我们吃的香蕉是一种奇怪的变异香蕉，
and they might not be long for this world, which is kind of terrifying.
并且它们可能活不了多久了，这一点有点可怕。
So while I enjoy this banana, you should go check out the video that we made all about that.
所以当我享受这个香蕉的时候，你应该去看看我们关于它的视频。
