Rspalmora at 15:36, 14 November 2025

2025-11-14T15:36:52Z

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{{short description|Species of fig tree}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Banyan
|image = Great banyan tree kol.jpg
|image_caption = [[The Great Banyan]] in [[Howrah]], [[Kolkata]]
|image2= Banyan fruit Ficusbenghalensis IGZoopark Visakhapatnam.JPG
|image2_caption = Banyan figs at [[Indira Gandhi Zoological Park|Indira Gandhi Zoo Park]], [[Visakhapatnam]]
|genus = Ficus
|parent = Ficus subg. Urostigma
|species = benghalensis
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]] 1753
|synonyms = *''Ficus banyana'' Oken 
*''Ficus benghalensis var. benghalensis''
*''Ficus benghalensis var. krishnae'' (C. D. C.) Corner
*''Ficus chauvieri'' G. Nicholson
*''Ficus cotoneifolia'' Vahl
*''Ficus cotonifolia'' Stokes
*''Ficus crassinervia'' Kunth & C. D. Bouché
*''Ficus indica'' L.
*''Ficus karet'' Baill.
*''Ficus lancifolia'' Moench
*''Ficus lasiophylla'' Link
*''Ficus procera'' Salisb.
*''Ficus pubescens'' B. Heyne ex Roth
*''Ficus umbrosa'' Salisb.
*''Perula benghalensis'' Raf.
*''Urostigma benghalense'' (L.) Gasp.
|synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite web |title=Ficus benghalensis L. |url=https://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000687501 |website=www.worldfloraonline.org |access-date=14 March 2025 |language=en}}</ref>
}}

'''''Ficus benghalensis''''', '''''Ficus indica''''', or '''''Ficus audrey''''' commonly known as the '''[[banyan]]''', '''banyan fig''', '''audrey fig''' and '''Indian banyan''',<ref name=GRIN>{{GRIN | name = ''Ficus benghalensis'' L. | id = 16783 | access-date = 8 May 2016 }}</ref> is a tree native to the [[Indian subcontinent]]. Specimens in India are among the largest trees in the world by canopy coverage. It is also known as a "[[strangler fig]]" because like many other trees in the genus ''[[Ficus]]'' it starts out as [[epiphyte]], that is, leaning on another tree that it ends up enveloping.

==Description==
[[File:Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften - Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe (1858) (20665373299), Ficus benghalensis.jpg|150px|thumb|left|[[Nature printing|Nature printed]] leaves, showing shape and venation]]

''Ficus benghalensis'' is an evergreen, [[Monoecy| monoecious]], fast-growing tree found mainly in monsoon and rainforests, that can reach a height of up to 30 meters.<ref>{{Cite web|title= Ficus benghalensis|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:852482-1|access-date=19 June 2022|website=Royal Botanic Gardens KEW Plants of the World Online|language=en-UK}}</ref> It is resistant to drought and mild frost. It produces propagating [[aerial root]]s that grow downward. Once these roots reach the ground, they take root and become supportive woody trunks.

The figs produced by the tree are eaten by birds such as the [[Indian myna]]. Fig seeds that have passed through the digestive system of birds are more likely to germinate than those that have not.<ref>Midya, S.; Brahmachary, R. L. (1991) "The Effect of Birds Upon Germination of Banyan (''Ficus bengalensis'') Seeds". ''Journal of Tropical Ecology''. 7(4):537-538.</ref>

==Reproduction==
{{original research|section|date=December 2023}}
Banyan trees reproduce easily by seed or by stake, and they often spread from the original place by means of aerial roots that anchor in the ground and begin to grow and thicken to the point that they "become independent" from the original trunk, thus managing to "emigrate" sometimes at great distances. The figs are eaten by all kinds of [[frugivorous]] birds such as the [[coppersmith barbet]] and the [[common myna]]. Seeds that have passed through the [[digestive system]] of birds are more likely to [[germinate]] and grow faster.

Banyan seeds can fall and grow near a tree, sometimes from the very tree from which they come, and they also usually germinate in a hollow in a trunk or in a wall or rock. Gradually they begin to grow as they have plenty of support as epiphytes on any object they can use to climb in search of [[sunlight]]. Under normal conditions, the tree grows until it reaches a level where it gets the most sunlight, so its height can vary considerably. For this reason, where this tree predominates in a place, rather than growing in height, they spread on the surface, looking for the gaps that are left without vegetation. In general, the crown of this tree extends over a diameter well above its height.

==Cultural significance==
''Ficus benghalensis'' is the [[national tree]] of India.<ref>{{cite web|title=National Tree|url=https://archive.india.gov.in/knowindia/national_symbols.php?id=5|publisher=Govt. of India Official website|access-date=2019-04-26|archive-date=2020-01-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200119072753/https://archive.india.gov.in/knowindia/national_symbols.php?id=5|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The tree is considered sacred in India,<ref>{{cite book|title=Plants of Life, Plants of Death|author=Simoons, F.J.|isbn=9780299159047|year=1998|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press}}</ref> and temples are often built nearby. Due to the large size of the tree's canopy, it provides useful shade in hot climates.

In [[Theravada Buddhism]], this tree is said to have been used as the tree for achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi by the twenty fourth [[Buddhahood|buddha]] called "[[Kassapa Buddha|Kassapa - කස්සප]]". The sacred plant is known as "Nuga - නුග" or "Maha nuga - මහ නුග" in Sri Lanka.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.plantsmap.com/organizations/25177/plants/54264|title=Ficus benghalensis (Banyan Tree) - Zone J|date=2018-05-01|author=Bali Hai|publisher=Plants Map|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref>

It is the tree under which Adhinath the first Jain Tirthankara attained Kewal Gyan or spiritual enlightenment.

==Notable specimens==
{{For|a more complete list|List of Banyan trees in India}}
The giant banyans of [[India]] are the largest trees in the world by area of canopy coverage. Notable individual trees include:
*[[Thimmamma Marrimanu]]
*[[Kabirvad]]
*[[The Great Banyan]]

The largest known tree in the world in terms of the two dimensional area covered by its canopy is [[Thimmamma Marrimanu]] in [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[India]], which covers {{convert|19107|sqm}}. Its perimeter, {{convert|846|m}}, is also the greatest of any known tree.<ref name=Bar-Ness>{{cite journal|author=Bar-Ness, YD|title=The World's Largest Trees? Cataloguing India's Giant Banyans|url=https://www.outreachecology.com/portfolio/The%20Worlds%20Largest%20Trees%20Cataloguing%20Indias%20Giant%20Banyans-by%20YD%20Bar-Ness-Outreach%20Ecology%20Report-Jun10.pdf|date=June 2010|publisher=Outreach Ecology|access-date=2018-01-04|archive-date=2018-01-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104192327/https://www.outreachecology.com/portfolio/The%20Worlds%20Largest%20Trees%20Cataloguing%20Indias%20Giant%20Banyans-by%20YD%20Bar-Ness-Outreach%20Ecology%20Report-Jun10.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Nearchus]], an admiral of [[Alexander the Great]], described a large specimen on the banks of the [[Narmada River]] in contemporary [[Bharuch]], [[Gujarat]], [[India]]; he may have described the tree presently named "[[Kabirvad]]". The canopy of the tree that [[Nearchus]] described was said to be so extensive that it sheltered 7,000 men. James Forbes later described it in his ''Oriental Memoirs'' (1813–5) as almost {{convert|2000|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}} in circumference and having more than 3,000 trunks.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Fig}}</ref> Currently its canopy has an area of {{convert|17520|sqm}} and a perimeter of {{convert|641|m}}.<ref name=Bar-Ness/>

Other notable [[India]]n specimens include [[The Great Banyan]] in the [[Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden|Jagadish Chandra Bose Botanic Garden]] in [[Shibpur]], [[Howrah]], which has a canopy area of {{convert|18918|sqm}} and is about 250 years old, and [[Dodda Aladha Mara]] in Kettohalli, [[Karnataka]], which has a canopy area of {{convert|12000|sqm}} and is about 400 years old.

==Gallery==
{{gallery
|Fruits of Indian banyan Suhrawardi Udyan Dhaka .jpg|Ripe fruits of Indian banyan. [[Suhrawardy Udyan]], [[Dhaka]]
|Banyantree.jpg|In front of the [[Edison and Ford Winter Estates|Edison museum]] in [[Fort Myers, Florida|Fort Myers]], [[Florida]], US
|Sarkaradevi Temple Ficus Tree.jpg|Ficus tree in front of [[Sarkaradevi Temple]], [[Chirayinkeezhu]], Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*{{Wikispecies-inline}}
*[http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/CropFactSheets/ficus.html Bar or Bargad ''Ficus benghalensis'' L.], Horticulture, Purdue University
*[http://www.himalaya-foto.ru/himalayas-banyan-nepal.htm ''Ficus benghalensis'' in Himalayas, Nepal.] Himalayas (Himalaya): photos, images, pictures
*http://www.phytopharmajournal.com/V1issue2.6.pdf
*http://rjpponline.org/HTMLPaper.aspx?Journal=Research%20Journal%20of%20Pharmacognosy%20and%20Phytochemistry;PID=2014-6-3-9

{{Symbols of India}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1405636}}

[[Category:Ficus|benghalensis]]
[[Category:National symbols of India]]
[[Category:Symbols of Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Trees in Buddhism]]
[[Category:Sacred trees in Hinduism]]
[[Category:House plants]]
[[Category:Ornamental trees]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1753]]
[[Category:Flora of the Indian subcontinent]]
[[Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]
[[Category:Drought-tolerant trees]]

Ficus benghalensis - Revision history

Rspalmora at 15:36, 14 November 2025