I. Bananas:[1]
The banana tree loses its branches and trunk yearly[2], and hence some Poskim[3] learn that its blessing is under the debate between the first, versus the second and third opinion above. Therefore, the blessing on bananas is Hadama, although Bedieved if one recited Haietz he is Yotzei. However, some[4] learn that their blessing is Ha’adama according to all, being that the fruit does not grow on a branch, but rather on a stem, which is soft, and is hence Ha’adama as explained in the next Halacha. Practically, Safek brachos Lihakel and hence if one said Haeitz he is Yotzei Bedieved.
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[1] Michaber 203:3; Ketzos Hashulchan 49:18
[2] The “trunk” of a banana plant is known as a pseudostem, which is made up of tightly packed leaf bases rather than wood. When a banana plant finishes producing fruit, that pseudostem dies off, but the underground part, called the rhizome or corm, remains alive. From the rhizome, new shoots (or suckers) emerge, and these grow into new pseudostems, which eventually produce fruit themselves. So, while the pseudostem is lost after fruiting, the plant continues its lifecycle through its rhizome.
[3] Ketzos Hashulchan 49:18 footnote 30; Piskeiy Teshuvos ibid 3
[4] Rav Alyashvili in Seder Birchas Hanehnin footnote 40
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