Bananas Crop Up in Oregon
If you lived in Oregon 43 million years ago, wild bananas might have grown in your own backyard. According to John Kress, research scientist and curator of botany at this Museum, the tiny fossil seed below comes from a site in north central Oregon and belongs to the banana family. The fossil species has been named Ensete oregonense by Kress and Stephen Manchester of the University of Florida. Its seeds are the first evidence that bananas grew in North America in the ancient past. Today bananas are native only to Asia and Africa.
Why Did They Die Out?
Probably because of climate change. From the fossil remains of some 150 fruits and seeds, we know that the Pacific Northwest was once a tropical environment. It's possible that bananas even originated in the area. From there bananas might have migrated to Africa and then on to Asia. But until more fossils are found, that's only a theory.
