Do You Know...Your Plants?

Do you know that a tree's roots go out the same distance as it's branches and vice versa?

Editor's note: You can tell how far the roots go by taking the longest branch of the tree and that is the longest the root underground will be.

Do you know that bamboo is the world's tallest grass, which sometimes grows to 40 metres or more?

Editor's note: Bamboo is also one of the fastest growing plants, thus making it an eco-friendly natural resources.

Do you know that bananas do not grow on trees? They grow out of a trunkless plant – an herb, to be exact.

Editor's note: The banana fruit comes out of the stem of the plant, appearing first as flowers. They grow in bunches on the plant and are picked when green so that they will be ripe by the time they reach your cereal bowl.

Do you know that oak trees do not produce acorns (simply put, seeds of the trees) until they are fifty years of age or older?

Editor's note: A full-grown oak tree expels 7,000 litres of water through its leaves in one day.

Do you know that rubber, derived from the gum of a tree, has existed since prehistoric times?

Editor's note: Fossils of rubber-producing plants found date back almost 3,000,000 years.