I recall hearing that, too - one of those little bits of info that just sticks with you over the years. The folks at AskOxford, however, have this to say:
[quote]Is a banana a fruit or a herb?
Both. A banana (the yellow thing you peel and eat) is undoubtedly a fruit (containing the seeds of the plant: see answer regarding tomatoes), though since commercially grown banana plants are sterile, the seeds are reduced to little specks. However, the banana plant, though it is called a ‘banana-tree’ in popular usage, is technically regarded as a herbaceous plant (or ‘herb’), not a tree, because the stem does not contain true woody tissue.[/quote]
BTW, there are others who say it’s a berry.
Sheesh, I just got out for five months.
On the upside, I did finish that research project on the banana-eating habits of preliterate civilizations. Basically, I deconstructed the banana/plantain binary opposition in order to demonstrate the ineluctabile historicity of banana fetishism. The results are forthcoming in a special issue of the International Journal of Musaceaenism.
Taiwan is really maturing in food taste these years, I’m quite happy now much variety is showing up outside the north. The dwarf and giant red bananas I grew and tried wholesaling a decade ago wouldn’t raise an eyebrow. Now they’re everywhere!
From reading the banana.org link above some of those bananas may be Musa Formosana a species native to Taiwan. Some may be MuSA Basjoo which originated in China and was also cultivated in Japan and probably Taiwan.
It’s not clear to me if the bajiao we typically eat in Taiwan are the local species or not. I suspect they may be. Or at least cultivated from it.
The local banana species is very powdery, starchy and chewy not weird wet looking thing like in that photo.