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{{short description|Subgenus of plants, the banyans}}
{{About|the tree}}
{{original research|date=April 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{automatic taxobox
|name = Banyan
|image = Big Banyan Tree at Bangalore.jpg
|image_caption = Banyan with characteristic adventitious prop roots
|taxon = Ficus subg. Urostigma
|subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
|subdivision = Species include:
*''[[Ficus americana|F. americana]]''
*''[[Ficus aurea|F. aurea]]''
*''[[Ficus benghalensis|F. benghalensis]]''
*''[[Ficus citrifolia|F. citrifolia]]''
*''[[Ficus elastica|F. elastica]]''
*''[[Ficus macrophylla|F. macrophylla]]''
*''[[Ficus microcarpa|F. microcarpa]]''
*''[[Ficus pertusa|F. pertusa]]''
*''[[Ficus religiosa|F. religiosa]]''
*''[[Ficus retusa|F. retusa]]''
*''[[Ficus rubiginosa|F. rubiginosa]]''
*''[[Ficus tinctoria|F. tinctoria]]''
}}

A '''banyan''', also spelled "'''banian'''",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/banian |title=Banian |website=Dictionary.com |publisher=Random House |access-date=15 March 2016}}</ref> is a [[Ficus|fig]] that begins its life as an [[epiphyte]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Laman |first=Timothy G. |date=1995 |title=The Ecology of Strangler Fig Seedling Establishment |journal=Selbyana |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=223–9 |jstor=41759910}}</ref> 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 denominates ''[[Ficus benghalensis]]'' (the "Indian banyan"), which is the [[national tree]] of [[India]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archive.india.gov.in/knowindia/national_symbols.php?id=5 |title=National Tree |website=Know India |publisher=Government of India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213035748/http://www.archive.india.gov.in/knowindia/national_symbols.php?id=5 |archive-date=13 February 2016 |access-date=16 January 2012}}</ref> though the name has also been generalized to denominate all figs that share a common life cycle and used [[systematics|systematically]] in [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]] to denominate the [[subgenus]] '''''[[Ficus#Subgenus Urostigma|Urostigma]]'''''.<ref>Note the use of "Banyan" versus "banyan" in {{cite journal |last=Athreya |first=Vidya R. |date=July 1997 |title=Nature Watch: Trees with a Difference: The Strangler Figs |url=http://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/002/07/0067-0074 |journal=Resonance |volume=2 |issue=7 |pages=67–74|doi=10.1007/BF02838593 |s2cid=125012527 }}; also {{cite web |url=http://depts.washington.edu/tc596jan/samoa/playground/banyans.php?r=n |title=Aerial-Rooting Banyan Trees |website=Natural History Guide To American Samoa |publisher=University of Washington |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070904203747/http://depts.washington.edu/tc596jan/samoa/playground/banyans.php?r=n |archive-date=4 September 2007}}</ref>

==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 wasp]]s and the trees depend on the fig wasps for pollination.

[[Frugivore]] birds disperse the seeds of banyans. The seeds are small, and because most banyans grow in [[woodland]]s, 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. For this reason banyans bear the colloquial name "[[strangler fig]]". A number of tropical banyan species that compete for sunlight, especially of the genus ''Ficus'', exhibit this strangling habit.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Zhou Zhekun |last2=Gilbert |first2=Michael G. |date=2003 |chapter=Moraceae |editor1=Zhengyi Wu |editor-last2=Raven |editor-first2=Peter H. |editor3=Deyuan Hong |title=Flora of China |chapter-url=http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/china/mss/volume05/Moraceae.pdf |volume=Volume 5 |pages=21–73 |isbn=978-1-930723-27-6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901100148/http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/china/mss/volume05/Moraceae.pdf |archive-date=1 September 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Serventy |first=Vincent |date=1984 |title=Australian Native Plants |location=Frenchs Forest, NSW |publisher=Reed |isbn=978-0-7301-0020-1}}</ref>{{page needed|date=January 2017}}<ref>{{cite magazine |date=1992 |title=Light in the Rainforest |url=http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/register/p00820ar.pdf |magazine=Tropical Topics |volume=1 |issue=5 |publisher=Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage |page=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090529233702/http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/register/p00820ar.pdf |archive-date=29 May 2009}}</ref>

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.<ref name="The Lovely Plants">{{cite web|url=http://www.thelovelyplants.com/the-banyan-tree/|title=The Banyan Tree|date=14 September 2010|website=The Lovely Plants}}</ref>

Older banyan trees are characterized by [[Aerial root|aerial prop roots]] that mature into thick, woody trunks, which can become indistinguishable from the primary trunk with age. 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#Degree of branching|hierarchical]] computer network operating system "[[Banyan VINES]]".

[[File:Strangler fig inside.jpg|thumb|left|Looking upward inside a strangler fig where the host tree has rotted away, leaving a hollow, columnar fig tree]]
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.

==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).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yule |first1=Henry |last2=Burnell |first2=Arthur Coke |date=1903 |editor-last=Crooke |editor-first=William |title=Hobson-Jobson: A glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological, historical, geographical and discursive |url=https://archive.org/stream/hobsonjobsonagl02croogoog#page/n116/mode/1up |edition=New |location=London |publisher=J. Murray |page=65}}</ref>

==Classification==
The original banyan, ''F. benghalensis'', can grow into a giant tree covering several hectares. Over time, the name became generalized to all [[strangler fig]]s of the ''Urostigma'' subgenus.  The many banyan species include:
* ''[[Ficus microcarpa]]'', which is native to [[Pakistan]], [[India]], [[Nepal]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Bhutan]], [[Sri Lanka]], [[China]], [[Taiwan]], [[Malay Archipelago|the Malay Archipelago]], [[Mainland Southeast Asia]], [[New Guinea]], [[Australia]], [[Ryukyu Islands]] and [[New Caledonia]], is a significant invasive species elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ficus microcarpa L.f. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:853217-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |access-date=9 September 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
* The Central American banyan (''Ficus pertusa'') is native to [[Central America]] and northern [[South America]], from southern [[Mexico]] south to [[Paraguay]].
* 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.
* 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.
* The Moreton Bay fig (''[[Ficus macrophylla]]'') and [[Port Jackson fig]] (''Ficus rubiginosa'') are other related species.

==In horticulture==
[[Image:Strangler fig kerala.jpg|right|thumb|Early stages of a strangler fig on a host tree in the [[Western Ghats]], India]]
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]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Small Is the Old Big |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2005/09/22/2003272719 |newspaper=Taipei Times |date=22 September 2005}}</ref>

==In culture==

===Religion and mythology===
[[Image:Sarkaradevi Temple Ficus Tree.jpg|thumb|right|Ficus tree in front of [[Sarkaradevi Temple]], [[Kerala]], [[India]]]]
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.  
* In [[Buddhism]]'s [[Pali canon]], the banyan (Pali: ''nigrodha'')<ref>{{cite book |last=[[Pali Text Society]], London |date=1921–1925 |editor-last1=Rhys Davids |editor-first1=T. W. |editor-link1=T.W. Rhys Davids |editor-last2=Stede |editor-first2=William |title=The Pali Text Society's Pali-English dictionary |url=http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:96.pali |location=Chipstead |page=355, entry "Nigrodha," |access-date=22 November 2008}}</ref> is referenced numerous times.<ref>See, for instance, the automated search of the SLTP ed. of the Pali Canon for the root "nigrodh" which results in 243 matches {{cite web |url=http://www.bodhgayanews.net/pitakaresults.php?title=&start=0&to=10&searchstring=Nigrodh |title=Search term 'Nigrodh' found in 243 pages in all documents |website=Bodhgayanews.net |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202012916/http://www.bodhgayanews.net/pitakaresults.php?title=&start=0&to=10&searchstring=Nigrodh |archive-date=2 December 2008 |access-date=22 November 2008}}</ref> Typical metaphors allude to the banyan's [[Epiphyte|epiphytic]] nature, likening the banyan's supplanting of a host tree as comparable to the way sensual desire (''[[kāma]]'') overcomes humans.<ref>See, e.g., [[Samyutta Nikaya|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, [[Sutta Nipata|Sn]] 2.5 v. 271 or 272 ([[Viggo Fausböll|Fausböll]], 1881, [http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe10/sbe1034.htm p. 46]).</ref>
* In [[Guam]], the [[Chamorro people]] believe in tales of ''[[taotaomona]]'', [[duende (mythology)|''duende''s]], and other spirits.'' Taotaomona'' are spirits of the ancient Chamorro that act as guardians to banyan trees.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ghost stories: Taotaomona, duendes and other spirits inhabit Guam |newspaper=Pacific Daily News |location=Guam |date=28 October 2007}}</ref>
* In Vietnamese mythology of the [[Mid-Autumn Festival]], the [[Lunar pareidolia|dark markings]] on the Moon are a banyan, a magical tree originally planted by [[Man in the Moon|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 [[Chang'e|Moon Lady]] and the [[Moon Rabbit|Jade Rabbit]].<ref>[https://www.vietnam.com/en/culture/art/fairy-tales/chu-cuoi-or-the-man-in-the-moon.html Chú Cuội or The Man in the Moon]</ref><ref>[https://vietnam.travel/things-to-do/vietnams-magical-mid-autumn-festival Vietnam's magical Mid-autumn Festival]</ref>
* In the [[Philippines]], they are usually referred to as [[balete tree]]s, which are home to certain deities and spirits.<ref>Mellie Leandicho Lopez (2006). A Handbook of Philippine Folklore. University of the Philippines Press.</ref>

===List of historical banyan trees===
[[File:The great banyan tree.jpg|alt=|left|thumb|The Great Banyan Tree]]
[[File:Thimmamma-marrimanu 1.jpg|thumb|left|Thimmamma Marrimanu]]
* [[Thimmamma Marrimanu]] is a banyan tree in [[Anantapur]], located circa 35&nbsp;km 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/thimmamma-marrimanu|title=The World's Largest Banyan Tree|website=Atlas Obscura|language=en|access-date=2 August 2019}}</ref> 
* One of the largest trees, [[the Great Banyan]] is found in [[Kolkata]], [[India]]. It is said to be more than 250 years old and covers 4.67 acres.
* 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.<ref name="clark"/>
* 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.<ref>[http://www.honolulumagazine.com/Honolulu-Magazine/October-2015/Friday-Frights-The-Ghosts-Who-Haunt-Iolani-Palace/ Friday Frights: The Ghosts Who Haunt Hawai‘i’s Historic ‘Iolani Palace] Honolulu Magazine. By Diane Lee.  6 October 2017.  Downloaded 22 September 2018.</ref> 
* [[Maui]], [[Hawaii]] has the [[Banyan tree in Lahaina|Banyan Tree in Lahaina]] planted by [[William Owen Smith]] in 1873 in [[Lahaina Banyan Court Park|Lahaina's Courthouse Square]]. It has grown to cover two-thirds of an acre.<ref name="clark">{{cite book |author= John R. K. Clark |title= Hawai'i place names: shores, beaches, and surf sites |publisher= [[University of Hawaii Press]] |year= 2001 |isbn= 978-0-8248-2451-8 |page= 23 |url= http://www.ulukau.org/elib/cgi-bin/library?c=cpn&l=en }}</ref>
* One large banyan tree, Kalpabata, is inside the premises of [[Jagannath Temple, Puri|Jagannath Temple]] in [[Puri]]. It is considered sacred by the devotees and is supposed to be more than 500 years old.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreekhetra.com/sriinner.html|title=Attractions of Jagannath Temple, Temples inside Jagannath Temple, Kasi Biswanath Mandira, Koili Baikuntha}}</ref>
* 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thevacationgals.com/legoland-florida-the-belle-of-theme-parks/|title=LEGOLAND Florida The Belle of Theme Parks|date=20 October 2011|access-date=15 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827210506/http://thevacationgals.com/legoland-florida-the-belle-of-theme-parks/|archive-date=27 August 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Other===
[[Image:Coat of Arms of Indonesia Garuda Pancasila.svg|thumb|left|The [[coat of arms of Indonesia]]]]
* In Indonesia, the banyan tree is depicted in the [[coat of arms of Indonesia]] as a manifestation of the third principle of [[Pancasila (politics)|Pancasila]] (the unity of all of Indonesia). It is also used in the emblem of [[Golkar]].
* ''[[The Economist]] ''magazine features an opinion column covering topics pertaining to Asia named "Banyan".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=In the shade of the banyan tree |url=http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13446191 |magazine=The Economist |date=8 April 2009 }}</ref>
* In southern [[Vanuatu]], the clearings under banyan trees are used as [[Nakamal|traditional meeting places]]. The quarterly newsletter of the British Friends of Vanuatu Society is named ''Nabanga'', after the local word for banyan.<ref>[http://www.british-friends-of-vanuatu.com/ Home Page]</ref>
* ''The Banyan Tree'' is a notoriously difficult room in the 1984 [[ZX Spectrum]] [[platform game]] ''[[Jet Set Willy]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crashonline.org.uk/04/jetset.htm|title=CRASH 4 - Jet Set Willy}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Bodhi Tree]]
* [[Midh Ranjha#Big Banyan Tree of Pakistan|Midh Ranjha tree]]
* [[The Great Banyan]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Commons category|Banyans}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070518225344/http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ploct99.htm Stranglers and Banyans], palomar.edu
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080827194931/http://plantcultures.org.uk/plants/banyan_landing.html Plant Cultures: Banyan tree history and botany], plantcultures.org.uk

{{Worship in Hinduism}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q465570}}

[[Category:Ficus| ]]
[[Category:Sacred trees in Hinduism]]
[[Category:Trees in Buddhism]]
[[Category:Epiphytes]]
[[Category:National symbols of India]]
[[Category:Plant common names]]