Question

New banana plants develop from
(a) Rhizome
(b) Sucker
(c) Stolons
(d) Both (a) and (b)

Answer 1

Hint: This is the sub-aerial modification of the stem which originates from the basal and underground portion of the main stem.

Complete answer: A banana is an elongated, edible fruit. New banana plants develop from sucker and rhizome both.
The underground stem of a banana plant is called a rhizome from where also a new plant develops. The apical meristem is the terminal growing point of the rhizome. Sucker is a lateral shoot that develops from the rhizome and develops into a new banana plant.

Additional information:
1. A rhizome is a flattened dome-like structure.
2. The leaves and the inflorescence are formed from this apical meristem.
3. The banana has a reduced underground stem found in a banana area, called the rhizome, which bears several buds. Each of these buds sprouts and forms its pseudostem and a new bulbous rhizome develops. These daughter plants are called suckers. Banana is mostly propagated by rhizomes and suckers.
4. The life cycle of the banana plant bears two phases:
The vegetative phase- the phase in which the plant prepares itself for reproduction.
The reproductive phase-the phase in which the plant begins to produce fruit.

So the correct answer is both’ sucker and rhizome’

                   (rhizome of the banana plant)

                        (sucker of the banana plant )

Notes:
1. Sucker is the sub-aerial modification of the stem which originates from the basal and underground portion of the main stem.
2. It grows obliquely upwards giving rise to leafy shoot or a new plant.
3. It is a lateral shoot that develops from the rhizome and emerges from the soil usually near the parent plant It also occurs in mint, Chrysanthemum, etc