The banana is a perennialherb cultivated in tropical and sub tropical climates. Bananas are fast-growing, arising from underground rhizomes. The fleshy stalks or pseudostems formed by upright concentric layers of leaf sheaths constitute the functional trunks. The true stem begins as an underground corm which grows upwards, pushing its way out through the centre of the stalk 10 to 15 months after planting, eventually producing the terminal inflorescence which will later bear the fruit. Each stalk produces one huge flowercluster and then dies. New stalks then grow from the rhizome. The large rectangular or elliptic leaf blades are extensions of the sheaths of the pseudostem and are joined to them by fleshy, deeply grooved, short petioles. The leaves unfurl, as the plant grows, at the rate of one per week in warm weather, and extend upward and outward , becoming as much as 2.5 metres long and 0.75 metres wide. They may be entirely green, green with maroon patches, or green on the upper side and red-purple beneath. The leaf veins run from the mid-rib straight to the outer edge of the leaf. Even when the wind shreds the leaf, the veins are still able to function. Approximately 44 leaves will appear before the inflorescence. The banana inflorescence shooting out from the heart in the tip of the stem, is at first a large, long-oval, tapering, purple-clad bud. As it opens, the slim, nectar-rich, tubular, toothed, white flowers appear. They are clustered in whorled double rows along the floral stalk, each cluster covered by a thick, waxy, hood like bract, purple outside and deep red within.
The flowers occupying the first five to fifteen rows are female. As the rachis of the inflorescence continues to elongate, sterile flowers with abortive male and female parts appear, followed by normal staminate ones with abortive ovaries. The two latter flower types eventually drop in most edible bananas. The ovaries contained in the first (female) flowers grow rapidly, developing parthenocarpically into clusters of fruits, called hands. The number of hands varies with the species and variety.
The fruit (technically a berry) turns from deep green to yellow or red, and may range from ten centimetres to thirty centimetres in length and two centimetres to five centimetres in diameter. The flesh, ivory-white to yellow or salmon-yellow, may be firm, astringent, even gummy with latex when unripe, turning tender and slippery, or soft and mellow or rather dry and mealy or starchy when ripe. The flavour may be mild and sweet or slightly acid with a distinct appletone. The common cultivated types are generally seedless with just vestiges of ovules visible as brown specks. Occasionally, cross-pollination with wild types will result in a number of seeds in a normally seedless variety. Research Banana
Grass (Graminaceae) is an extensive family of endogenous plants comprising about 250 genera and 4500 species. The roots are fibrous; the stem is usually cylindrical and jointed varying length from a few centimetres to 30 metres in the case of the bamboo, (in the sugar-cane the stem is solid, but porous), and coated with silex; leaves, one to each node or joint, with a sheathing petiole; spikelets terminal, panicled, racemose, or spiked; flowers hermaphrodite or polygamous, destitute of true calyx or corolla, surrounded by a double set of bracts, the outer constituting the glumes, the inner the paleoe; stamens hypogynous, three or six; filaments long and flaccid; anthers versatile; ovary solitary, simple, with two (rarely three) styles, one-celled, with a single ovule; fruit known as a caryopsis, the seed and the pericarp being inseparable from each other.. The family includes many of the most valuable pasture-plants, all those which yield corn and the sugar-cane. The nutritious herbage and farinaceous seed furnished by many of them render them of incalculable importance, while the stems and leaves are useful for various textile and other purposes.
The more important divisions of the natural order of grasses are: (1) Panicaceoe, including the Paniceoe (millet, fundi, Guinea grass); the Andropogoneoe (sugar-cane, dhurra, lemon-grass) ; the Rottboellieoe (gama-grass); etc. (2) Phalarideoe (maize, Job's tears, canary-grass, foxtail-grass, soft-grass, Timothy grass). (3) Poaceoe, including the Oryzeoe (rice); Stipeoe (feather-grass, esparto); Agrosteoe (bent-grass); Aveneoe (oats, vernal grass); Festuceoe (fescue, meadow-grass, manna-grass, teff, cock's-foot grass, tussac grass, dog's-tail grass); Bambtiseoe (bamboo); Hordeoe (wheat, barley, rye, spelt, rye-grass, lyme-grass).
In its popular use the term grasses is chiefly applied to the pasture grasses as distinct from the cereals, etc. but it is also applied to some herbs, which are not in any strict sense grasses at all, e.g. rib-grass, scurvy and whitlow grass. After the culture of herbage and forage plants became an important branch of husbandry, it became customary to call the clovers, trefoils, sainfoin, and other flowering plants grown as fodder, artificial grasses, by way of distinction from the grasses proper, which were termed natural grasses. Of the pasture grasses, some thrive in meadows, others in marshes, on upland fields, or on bleak hills, and they by no means grow indiscriminately. Indeed the species of grass will often indicate the quality of the soil; thus, Holcus, Dactylis, and Bromus are found on sterile land, Festuca and Alopecurus on a better soil, Poa and Cynosurus are only found in the best pasture land. Research Grass
At the edge of the first rib, the subclavian artery becomes the axillary artery, which continues to descend to the tendon of the teres major muscle and becomes the brachial artery. The artery divides into three branches around the pectoralis minor muscle, one above the muscle, one behind the muscle and one below the muscle. This artery brings a fresh blood supply to the upper arm and chest area. Research Axillary Artery
The axillary vein is a continuation of the basilic vein from the arms. It is a large vein extending along the chest to the first rib, where it becomes the subclavian vein. The cephalicvein merges with it just before it becomes the subclavian vein. Research Axillary Vein
Empyema thoracis is the condition of pusformation in the pleural space. The pleural effusion which accompanies infective conditions of the lung may itself become infected and form pus. A lung abscess may burst into the pleural space. Haemothorax may become infected. The symptoms which the condition produces depend on the amount of puspresent, and the degree of compression of, or disease in, the underlying lungs. There is some embarrassment of respiration, and 'swinging' fever, typically present whenever pus has accumulated in the body. Fever may sometimes be absent, especially if the patient is being treated with antibiotics. The patient with an empyema is severely toxic, looks ill, loses weight rapidly and becomes severely anaemic. If the pus is sufficiently thin to be removed through a needle, then the treatment is entirely by aspiration. Penicillin or other antibiotic solution may be injected into the pleural space after the withdrawal of the pus. Aspiration needs to be repeated daily until lung expansion is adequate. If the pus becomes too
thick for aspiration, the empyema is treated by one of two surgical methods: (a) A small intercostal incision is made and a large self- retaining catheter placed into the pleural space to allow the escape of pus. The catheter is connected to an under-water seal. This method of intercostal drainage is rarely used but it is sometimes suitable for children. (b) Rib resection and drainage by a wide-bore tube. Part of one rib is removed and the pleural space opened through its periosteum. This tube may be left open at its outer end or may be attached to an under-water seal. One type of tube is the 'Tudor- Edward' empyema tube which has an additional small rubber side tube through which the empyema cavity can be irrigated. Research Empyema Thoracis
The external oblique (obliquus externus abdominis) is a large, thin sheet of muscle that runs along the side of the torso and partly on the front. The muscle is divided into two portions; and upper thoracic portion and a lower flank portion. The thoracic portion is located along the rib cage. The lower flank portion is located along the side of the abdomen between the rib cage and the pelvis. The muscle originates from the fifth to twelfthribs and inserts in the lip of the iliac crest, inguinal ligament, and the rectus abdominis muscle. The individual ribs can be seen beneath this muscle when it is relaxed. Most of this muscle is concealed by a cushion of fat. The two portions meet at the waist. It is innervated by branches of the lower thoracic nerve and supplied branches of the lumbarartery and the intercostal arteries. This muscle assists the rectus abdominis muscle in flexing the spine when the trunk twists or turns. It also supports the abdominal organtissue. Research External Abdominal Oblique
The external intercostals (intercostalis externi) originate from the lower border of a rib and extend downward and forward to insert into the upper border of the rib below. Research External Intercostals
The external oblique (obliquus externus abdominis) is a large, thin sheet of muscle that runs along the side of the torso and partly on the front. The muscle is divided into two portions; and upper thoracic portion and a lower flank portion. The thoracic portion is located along the rib cage. The lower flank portion is located along the side of the abdomen between the rib cage and the pelvis. The muscle originates from the fifth to twelfthribs and inserts in the lip of the iliac crest, inguinal ligament, and the rectus abdominis muscle. The individual ribs can be seen beneath this muscle when it is relaxed. Most of this muscle is concealed by a cushion of fat. The two portions meet at the waist. It is innervated by branches of the lower thoracic nerve and supplied branches of the lumbarartery and the intercostal arteries. This muscle assists the rectus abdominis muscle in flexing the spine when the trunk twists or turns. It also supports the abdominal organtissue. Research External Oblique
The lower five pairs of ribs are called false ribs, because they do not directly articulate with the sternum. Instead, the eighth, ninth, and tenthribs are joined to the seventhrib by cartilaginous tissue. The eleventh and twelfth pairs of ribs (the last two pairs of
false ribs) are also called floating ribs, because they do not connect anteriorly to any other rib or the sternum. Research False Ribs
The innominate veins (brachiocephalic veins) are two short, large trunks extending on each side of the neck. The veins are formed by the conjunction of the internal jugular vein and the subclavian vein. The right innominate vein is about an inch in length extending downward to merge with the left innominate vein just below the first rib to form the superior vena cave. The left innominate vein is slightly larger, about two and a half inches in length, and runs horizontally across the upper front part of the chest. Research Innominate Veins
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Banana
