Bananas

[missmoore]

Why are bananas banana-shaped? Why don't they just grow straight?

[rugeleyboy]

the heat makes them bend!

[ugly_bob]

and they're getting straighter - thanks to EU regulations

[Clanad]

The �trunk� of the banana plant is actually a densely packed group of concentric leaves, a pseudostem. After the banana plant has grown about thirty leaves, the fruit stem shoots through them from the rhizome and emerges as a terminal inflorescence (a group of flowers at the tip of the stem). The fruit stem matures three to four months after its emergence. Flower bracts soon cover the stem and then roll back almost daily, each exposing a �hand� of bananas. At the beginning of their development, the little hands grow downward, but as they grow, they turn their fingers towards the sun and appear to be growing upside down. This phenomenon is called �negative geotropism". (Source: InfoSearch)

[heathfield]

They have a phobia about coming into contact with the ground. And if they were straight, they'd still be banana-shaped, because that's the shape bananas would then be.

[beejaybee]

Most of the bananas I buy are straight.