vThere
are at least two studies of the vernacular names of bananas and plantains in Africa, Blakney (1963) and Rossel (1989, 1991, 1996, 1998), but their conclusions cannot easily be aligned with the phytolith evidence.
vThis
paper attempts to draw together and reformulate
the linguistic and culture geographical
evidence, as well as considering the possibility
that plantains –and perhaps bananas as
well- were accompanied by other vegetative crops.