The Banyan Tree

 Alrich, Figo and I accompanied my mother on 21st June as we wanted to buy a new printer at Vijay Sales and make purchases at D-mart. Half way the boys cycled while Mom took me on the bike. As we walked on the main road we stopped by to look at the tree which we so often pass by. So here i am writing about it, we had a chapter in Science subject in grade 6. I did learn a lot more on the internet.

The National Tree of India

The Banyan is a marvelous, majestic and massive evergreen tree native to India, Bangladesh, Sri- Lanka and Pakistan. 

They are generally seen in every village. The British named the tree after the Banyas, a business community in India who sat under these trees and traded.

Gautama Buddha meditated under the Banyan Tree in BodhGaya where he achieved Enlightenment. Thus it’s also known as the Bodhi tree or 'tree of knowledge' or 'tree of life'.

The Banyan tree begins its life as an epiphyte when its seeds germinate in cracks and crevices on a host tree(or on structures like buildings,rocks,)spreading by aerial roots growing downwards and has the widest reaching roots of all known trees, covering several acres, these roots eventually slowly find their way to the ground and form a pseudo-trunk

 Banyan trees near Bhabola police chowki

Classification

Division: Magnoliophyta
Class:     Magnoliopsida
Order :   Urticales
Genus :   Ficus
Family :   Moraceae 
              (Fig  or Mulberry  Family)
Zoological name : Ficus Benghalensis


Leaves: The leaves of Banyan tree are large, elliptical in shape, leathery and shiny green. Leaf bud is covered by two large scales. As the leaf develops the scales fall. Young leaves have an attractive reddish tinge. White milky fluid oozes out of leaves, if broken. The leaves grow densely on the outer branches of the tree.

Picture by Doreen Gonsalves

Fruits - Its fruit called figs are about 1.8cm in diameter, orange-reddish turning scarlet and fleshy when ripe but are not edible. They hardly have any stalks so they grow close to the branches.

Flowers: Banyan flowers are found inside the fig. The blossoms are tiny and hundreds spend their entire lives inside the fig. They are pollinated by two types of wasps, the Blastophaga genus pollinates the smaller flowers, the genus Apocrypha the large flowers. The wasp enters the fig through a natural hole in the top and lays its eggs. When the insects hatch and leave their home they become covered with pollen. Then they make their way into another fig and fertilize its blossoms. 

                       

Try like Tarzan

Medicinal uses: Its leaf, bark, seeds and fig are used for the disorders like diarrhea, polyuria, dental, diabetes and urine disorders. The sap is applied externally to treat inflamed skin and bruising. Skin ulcers are treated with a paste made by mixing water with ground plant material from aerial roots of the tree. The latex is applied to the gums to treat toothache.

aerial shoots that grow down into the soil forming additional trunks

I am admiring the adventitious aerial prop roots

Other Uses:

In India its edible leaves are used as plates. Wood is used for well curbs, door panels, boxes, furniture, etc. 

Its wood and bark is suitable for paper pulp. Its aerial roots are strong thus used for cart yokes and tent poles. 

The sap produced by lac insects which parasitise banyan trees are often used to produce shellac, a strong adhesive. It can also be used to make surface-finisher.

The twigs of banyan tree are sold as toothpicks in order to promote dental health.

In Nepal women the root of the banyan tree with a paste to make a herbal product, which is used by them as a hair and skin conditioner. 

In the Indo-Nepal Terrain, the milky sap is used for polishing copper; brass and bronze ornaments. 

Ropes are made from aerial roots for tying bundles of wood. The leaves are used as animal fodder.

The Banyan is ideal for making bonsais.

The trees are good for soil conservation.

Banyan leaves are used as craft material for making greeting cards.

The widest tree in the world - 

The Great Banyan - is located in Kolkata. The tree is about 250 years old.

One of the most famous of banyan is planted  on the island of Kabirvad in Gujarat ,records show that the Kabirvad tree is more than 300 years old.

Cultivation methods Banyan tree is easily propagated by root tip cuttings or the eye cuttings. Cut apiece of the stem about half a inch below and above the leaf. Insert the stem piece and a little of the leaf stalk into the rooting medium. To reduce evaporation from the leaf surface, you can roll the leaf and secure with a rubber band. In a couple weeks roots and a new shoot will start developing. It can grow in any type of soil.

kindly check more links and websites to know more about this wonderful tree, its amazing.

Other names : Bargad, Bor, Ber, Ala and Pedda mari, Nayagrodha, Ala mara, Bar, Vad, Vatnam, Bahupada, Peddamarri.

  

(Wondering should I be meditating  under this tree now)

  

Indeed there was so much to learn about this incredible tree. Whenever i pass by this road it will always be very special to me