Banyan Tree

Picture taken by VP

These trees were a common sight many,many years ago.  Now one may find them mostly in the outskirts of the city.  They do need a large area of land and may explain the disappearance of these trees to make way for concrete jungles.

Common name: Banyan tree

The bark is grey and smooth - usually variegated because it flakes off easily, and the trunk in mature trees is never cylindrical but composed of several amalgamated aerial roots. From every branch hang clumps of brown ‘rope’; these eventually unite and on reaching the ground take root and grow into separate trunks and so the tree widens and covers an ever-increasing area.

The tree appears to bear no flowers, only fruit. Actually the flowers are concealed in the fleshy receptacle commonly referred to as the fig.

Botanical name: Ficus bengalensis      Family: Moraceae (mulberry family)(Pic taken by La - Nong Nooch Gardens, Thailand)

Info - Flowering Trees and Shrubs by D V Cowen