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| Banyan Tree - The National Tree of India |
Banyan - The National Tree of India
A
banyan (also
banian) is a fig that starts its life as an epiphyte when its seeds germinate in the cracks and crevices on a host tree (or on structures like buildings and bridges). "Banyan" often refers specifically to the Indian Banyan or
Ficus benghalensis, the National tree of India,
[1] though the term has been generalized to include all figs that share a unique life cycle, and systematically to refer to the subgenus
Urostigma.
[2] The seeds of banyans are dispersed by fruit-eating
birds. The seeds germinate and send down roots towards the ground, and
may envelop part of the host tree or building structure with their
roots, giving them the casual name of "strangler fig." The "strangling" growth habit is found in a number of tropical forest species, particularly of the genus
Ficus, that compete for light.
[3][4][5] Any
Ficus species showing this habit may be termed a strangler fig.
The leaves of Banyan tree are large, leathery, glossy green and
elliptical in shape. Like most of the fig-trees, leaf bud is covered by
two large scales. As the leaf develops the scales fall. Young leaves
have an attractive reddish tinge.
[6]
Older banyan trees are characterized by their Aerial prop roots
that grow into thick woody trunks which, with age, can become
indistinguishable from the main trunk. Old trees can spread out
laterally using these prop roots to cover a wide area. Like other Fig
species (which includes the common edible fig
Ficus carica), banyans have unique fruit structures and are dependent on fig wasps for reproduction.
