plantain tree
Noun: 1. A type of banana tree: A tropical or subtropical plant (Musa × paradisiaca) that produces large, hanging clusters of edible fruit. The fruits are typically angular, greenish, and starchy, and are often cooked before eating, unlike common dessert bananas.
The term "plantain tree" refers specifically to the plant itself, distinguishing it from the common sweet banana tree. It is used to describe the source of the cooking banana known as a plantain. - The farmer cultivated a plantain tree in his backyard for its starchy fruit. - Unlike the common banana, the fruit from a plantain tree is usually fried, boiled, or baked.
- Botanical Context: In botanical or agricultural discussions, "plantain tree" specifies the cultivar group within the genus grown primarily for cooking.
- The research focused on disease resistance in the plantain tree.
- Plantain (noun): The starchy, cooking fruit produced by the plantain tree.
- She bought ripe plantains to make maduros.
- Cooking Banana (noun): A common descriptive synonym for the fruit of the plantain tree.
- Musa × paradisiaca (noun): The scientific name for the hybrid plant that includes the plantain tree.
- Cooking banana tree
- Platano tree (from Spanish )
The "plantain tree" is closely related to, and often visually similar to, the dessert banana tree. The key difference lies in the fruit's characteristics (starchy vs. sweet) and its primary culinary use (cooking vs. eating raw).
- a banana tree bearing hanging clusters of edible angular greenish starchy fruits; tropics and subtropics