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Technically, the banana tree isn't a tree at all. It's actually the world's largest herb. There are over 500 varieties of bananas, and the Upland Tropical Rain Forest exhibit houses two species of banana plants.
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The cacao tree is the source of a delicious treat—chocolate! The plant's seeds, or beans, are dried and then made into chocolate. Each cacao pod has anywhere from 20 to 60 seeds encased in a sweet pulp.
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The candlestick ginger plant grows quickly and has large leaves that provide ample shade. Some South American indigenous groups will grind the knobby root of this plant into a powder they use to treat stomachaches.