A banyan, also spelled banian (/ˈbænjən/BAN-yən),[1] is a
fig that develops accessory trunks from
adjacent prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely.[2] This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a
strangler habit that begin life as an
epiphyte,[3] i.e. a plant that grows on another plant, when its
seed germinates in a crack or crevice of a host tree or edifice. "Banyan" often specifically denotes Ficus benghalensis (the "Indian banyan"), which is the
national tree of India,[4] though the name has also been generalized to denominate all figs that share a common life cycle and used
systematically in
taxonomy to denominate the
subgenusUrostigma.[5]
Characteristics
Like other fig species, banyans bear their fruit in the form of a structure called a "
syconium". The syconium of Ficus species supply shelter and food for
fig wasps and the trees depend on the fig wasps for pollination.[6]
Frugivore birds disperse the seeds of banyans. The seeds are small, and because most banyans grow in
woodlands, a seedling that germinates on the ground is unlikely to survive. However, many seeds fall on the branches and stems of other trees or on human edifices, and when they germinate they grow roots down toward the ground and consequently may envelop part of the host tree or edifice.
This is colloquially known as a "
strangler" habit, which banyans share with a number of other tropical Ficus species, as well as some other unrelated genera such as Clusia and Metrosideros.[2][7][8][page needed][9]
The leaves of the banyan tree are large, leathery, glossy, green, and elliptical. Like most figs, the leaf bud is covered by two large scales. As the leaf develops the scales abscise. Young leaves have an attractive reddish tinge.[10]
Older banyan trees are characterized by
aerial prop roots that mature into thick, woody trunks, which can become indistinguishable from the primary trunk with age. These aerial roots can become very numerous.
The Great Banyan of Kolkata, which has been tracked carefully for many years, currently has 2,880 supplementary trunks.[11] Such prop roots can be sixty feet (eighteen meters) in height.[12][13] Old trees can spread laterally by using these prop roots to grow over a wide area. In some species, the prop roots develop over a considerable area that resembles a grove of trees, with every trunk connected directly or indirectly to the primary trunk. The topology of this massive root system inspired the name of the
hierarchical computer network operating system "
Banyan VINES".[citation needed]
In a banyan that envelops its host tree, the mesh of roots growing around the latter eventually applies considerable pressure to and commonly kills it. Such an enveloped, dead tree eventually decomposes, so that the banyan becomes a "columnar tree" with a hollow, central core. In jungles, such hollows are very desirable shelters to many animals.[citation needed]
From research, it is known that the longevity of banyan tree is due to multiple signs of adaptive (MSA) evolution of genes.[14]
Etymology
The name was originally given to F. benghalensis and comes from India, where early European travelers observed that the shade of the tree was frequented by Banyans (a corruption of Baniyas, a community of Indian traders).[15]
Classification
The original banyan, F. benghalensis, can grow into a giant tree covering several hectares. Over time, the name became generalized to all
strangler figs of the Urostigma subgenus. The many banyan species also include:
The Central American banyan (Ficus pertusa) is native to Central America and northern South America, from southern Mexico south to
Paraguay.[citation needed]
The shortleaf fig (Ficus citrifolia) is native to
South Florida, the
Caribbean islands, Central America, and South America south to Paraguay. One theory is that the Portuguese name for F. citrofolia, os barbados, gave
Barbados its name.[citation needed]
The Florida strangler fig (Ficus aurea) is also native to South Florida and the Caribbean islands, and distinguished from the above by its coarser leaf venation.[citation needed]
Due to the complex structure of the roots and extensive branching, the banyan is used as a subject specimen in
penjing and
bonsai. The oldest living bonsai in
Taiwan is a 240-year-old banyan tree housed in
Tainan.[17]
In culture
Religion and mythology
Banyan trees figure prominently in several Asian and Pacific religions and myths, including:
In
Hinduism, the leaf of the banyan tree is said to be the resting place for the god
Krishna.
In the
Bhagavat Gita, Krishna said, "There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down, and the Vedic hymns are its leaves. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas." (Bg 15.1) Here the material world is described as a tree whose roots are upwards and branches are below. We have experience of a tree whose roots are upward: if one stands on the bank of a river or any reservoir of water, he can see that the trees reflected in the water are upside down. The branches go downward and the roots upward. Similarly, this material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. The material world is but a shadow of reality. In the shadow there is no reality or substantiality, but from the shadow we can understand that there is substance and reality.[citation needed]
Vat Purnima is a
Hindu festival related to the banyan tree. Vat Purnima is observed by married women in
North India and in the Western Indian states of
Maharashtra,
Goa,
Gujarat.[18] During the three days of the month of
Jyeshtha in the
Hindu calendar (which falls in May–June in the
Gregorian calendar) married women observe a fast and tie threads around a banyan tree and pray for the well-being of their husbands.[19]
In
Buddhism's
Pali canon, the banyan (Pali: nigrodha)[20] is referenced numerous times.[21] Typical metaphors allude to the banyan's
epiphytic nature, likening the banyan's supplanting of a host tree as comparable to the way sensual desire (kāma) overcomes humans.[22]
In
Guam, the
Chamorro people believe in tales of taotaomona,
duendes, and other spirits. Taotaomona are spirits of the ancient Chamorro that act as guardians to banyan trees.[23]
In Vietnamese mythology of the
Mid-Autumn Festival, the
dark markings on the Moon are a banyan, a magical tree originally planted by
a man named Cuội on Earth. When his wife watered it with unclean water, the tree uprooted itself with the man hanging on it and flew to the Moon, where he eternally accompanied the
Moon Lady and the
Jade Rabbit.[24][25]
In the
Philippines, they are usually referred to as
balete trees, which are home to certain deities and spirits.[26]
In
Okinawa, the tree is referred to as gajumaru, which, according to traditional folklore, is the home for the mythical
Kijimuna.[citation needed]
Notable banyan trees
In Pakistan, efforts to protect and conserve banyan trees have been notably championed by environmental activists such as
Aneeqa Bashir.
Thimmamma Marrimanu is a banyan tree in
Anantapur, located circa 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the town of Kadiri in the state of
Andhra Pradesh, India. It is present in the Indian Botanical Gardens and is more than 550 years old. Its
canopy covers 19,107 m2 (4.721 acres) [27]
Another such tree,
Dodda Aalada Mara as in "Big Banyan Tree", is found in the village of Ramohalli, on the outskirts of
Bangalore, India; it has a spread of circa 2.5 acres.[28]
The
Iolani Palace banyans in
Honolulu, Hawaii. In the 1880s
Queen Kapiolani planted two banyan trees within the
Iolani Palace grounds. These trees have since grown into large groupings of trees on the old historic palace grounds.[29]
One large banyan tree, Kalpabata, is inside the premises of
Jagannath Temple in
Puri. It is considered sacred by the devotees and is supposed to be more than 500 years old.[31]
A large banyan tree lives in
Cypress Gardens, at the Legoland theme park located in Winter Haven, Florida. It was planted in 1939 in a 5-gallon bucket.[32]
Adayar Banyan Tree, located in the Theosophical Society Campus in Adayar, Chennai, India, is around 450 years old.
the banyan tree from
Miary, Madagascar which is said to be 1,700 years old.[33]
The Economistmagazine features an opinion column covering topics pertaining to Asia named "Banyan".[34]
In southern
Vanuatu, the clearings under banyan trees are used as
traditional meeting places. The quarterly newsletter of the British Friends of Vanuatu Society is named Nabanga, after the local word for banyan.[35]
The title track from
Steely Dan's 1977 album
Aja contains the lyric "Chinese music under banyan trees, here at the dude ranch, above the sea."[38]
On 13 December 2021,
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary
Xi Jinping personally intervened to punish and demote 10 CCP officials in
Guangzhou after they cut down or uprooted thousands of banyan trees.[39]
During the age of sail, 'Banyan' was used as an expression for a party, especially one at the fo'c'sle. This is likely due to religious festivals in India being held under the tree, of which East Indiamen would have been familiar.[40]
Gallery
Early stages of a strangler fig on a host tree in the
Western Ghats, India
During
Vat Purnima festival, married women tying threads around a banyan tree.
^Zhou Zhekun; Gilbert, Michael G. (2003).
"Moraceae"(PDF). In Zhengyi Wu; Raven, Peter H.; Deyuan Hong (eds.). Flora of China. Vol. 5. pp. 21–73.
ISBN978-1-930723-27-6. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 1 September 2006.
^Serventy, Vincent (1984). Australian Native Plants. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Reed.
ISBN978-0-7301-0020-1.
^"Light in the Rainforest"(PDF). Tropical Topics. Vol. 1, no. 5. Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage. 1992. p. 1. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 29 May 2009.
^See, e.g.,
SN 46.39, "Trees [Discourse]," trans. by Bhikkhu Bodhi (2000), Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya (Boston: Wisdom Publications), pp. 1593, 1906 n. 81; and,
Sn 2.5 v. 271 or 272 (
Fausböll, 1881,
p. 46).
^"Ghost stories: Taotaomona, duendes and other spirits inhabit Guam". Pacific Daily News. Guam. 28 October 2007.