Bananas

Question

Since I am lucky enough to live in Miami and lucky enough to have bananas growing in my yard, I can tell you that the banana plant is surely not a tree The plant grows a single stalk and a bunch of bananas grow from it and then the whole thing dies after a single season. New banana plants sprout up from the roots of the old one before it dies, but the banana plant is a single use plant that is definitely not a tree. The same is true of the papaya which is a stalk that also lasts a season, produces its fruit and then dies as well as the pineapple for which each stalk produces a single fruit. It is always puzzling to me that I have seen books which list the papaya as "Ha-aytz" when the plant does not even live the three years that one would have to wait before eating the fruit of the tree. Thank you for all you do, it is most appreciated.