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{{Taxobox
| name = Banyan
| image = Banyan botanical c1800-1830.jpg
| image_width = 220px
| image_caption = ''Ficus benghalensis''
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Urticales]]
| familia = [[Moraceae]]
| genus = ''[[Ficus]]''
| subgenus = '''''(Urostigma)'''''
| subgenus_authority =
| subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
| subdivision =
}}
[[File:Rubber, or Banyan Tree, on Banana River, Florida.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Banyan Tree on Banana River, Florida. The tree is a Florida strangler fig (''Ficus aurea'').]]
[[File:The head of Buddha in Wat Mahathat.JPG|thumb|right|220px|This is the famous Wat Mahathat Temple, with banyan roots wrapped around a buddha head.]]
[[File:Palermo-Park-bjs-1.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Strangler fig in [[Palermo]], [[Italy]]]]

A '''banyan''' (or 'banian') is a kind of [[fig]]. It usually starts life by growing on another plant as an [[epiphyte]]. Its [[seeds]] [[Germination|germinate]] in the cracks and crevices on a [[host (biology)|host]] [[tree]], or on other structures like buildings and bridges.

"Banyan" usually means the [[Indian banyan]] or ''Ficus benghalensis''. It is the [[List of national trees|National tree]] of the [[Republic of India]].<ref name="National Symbols of India">{{cite web| url=http://india.gov.in/knowindia/national_tree.php| title=National Tree| publisher= Government of India Official website| accessdate=2010-01-25}}</ref> and of [[Bangladesh]] respectively. However, the term actually includes all figs which share their epiphytic [[life cycle]]. They are put in the sub[[genus]] '''''Urostigma'''''.<ref>Note usage of "Banyan" versus "banyan" in {{PDF|[http://www.ias.ac.in/resonance/July1997/pdf/July1997NatureWatch.pdf "Trees with a difference: the strangler figs"]|61.0 [[Kibibyte|KiB]]}} by Vidya R. Athreya, ''Nature Watch,'' July 1997; also [http://depts.washington.edu/tc596jan/samoa/playground/banyans.php?r=n "Aerial-rooting banyan trees"], washington.edu</ref> The [[seed]]s of banyans are dispersed by [[frugivore|fruit-eating]] birds. The seeds [[germinate]] and send down roots towards the ground. These roots may envelop (cover) part of the host tree or building structure, from which they get the casual name of '''strangler fig'''.

A number of tropical forest species grow by strangling. There are other examples in the [[genus]] ''Ficus'' that competes for light.<ref>Zhekun, Zhou & Michael G. Gilbert 2003. ''Flora of China (Moraceae)'' '''5''': 21-73. [http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/china/mss/volume05/Moraceae.pdf Harvard.edu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929162307/http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/china/mss/volume05/Moraceae.pdf |date=2011-09-29 }}</ref><ref>Serventy, V. 1984. Australian Native Plants. Victoria: Reed Books.</ref><ref>Light in the rainforest 1992 Tropical topics. Vol 1 No. 5 [http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/register/p00820ar.pdf QLD.gov.au] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701035940/http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/register/p00820ar.pdf |date=2007-07-01 }}</ref> Any ''Ficus'' species showing this habit may be termed a strangler fig.

The leaves of the banyan tree are large, leathery, glossy green and [[ellipse|elliptical]] in shape. Like most of the fig-trees, the leaf bud is covered by two large scales. As the leaf develops the scales fall. Young leaves have an attractive reddish tinge.<ref name="The Lovely Plants">[http://www.thelovelyplants.com/the-banyan-tree/ The Lovely Plants.]</ref>

Older banyan trees have [[Aerial root|aerial prop root]]s that grow into thick woody trunks which, with age, can become indistinguishable from the main trunk. Old trees can spread out laterally using these prop roots to cover a wide area.

Like other Fig species (including the common edible fig ''[[Ficus carica]]''), banyans have unique fruit structures and are dependent on [[fig wasp]]s for reproduction.

== The fatal embrace ==
Once the roots get to the ground, they suck up [[nutrient]]s and grow faster and thicker.
They cover the trunk of the host tree, and their leaves and branches in the [[canopy]] block the light from the host. Lacking enough nutrition and light, the host tree eventually dies. Its wood is destroyed by [[beetle]]s, [[termite]]s and [[fungi]]. Only the [[hollow]] space inside the banyan remains. The banyan roots make a huge cylinder, and it stands up perfectly well.

Often the banyan tree is formed from several different fruits which germinated on the same host tree. This has been proved by [[genome analysis]].<ref name=Dickie>Attenborough, David 1995. ''The private life of plants: a natural history of plant behaviour''. BBC Books, London.</ref><sup>p170</sup>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Trees]]
[[Category:Ecology]]
[[Category:Flowering plants]]
[[Category:Epiphytes]]
[[Category:National symbols of India]]
[[Category:National symbols of Bangladesh]]

Banyan - Revision history

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