Walking Ficus

You can find a large number of Banyan trees in Miami. This one is quite large and it demonstrates well how ficus trees "walk" and grow large to occupy extensive surface areas.

Ficus benghalensis is native of the Indian subcontinent. It produces propagating roots which grow downwards as aerial roots. Once these roots reach the ground, they grow into woody trunks that can become indistinguishable from the main trunk.

Also known as the Indian Banyan, F. bengalensis is the National tree of India and considered sacred. Worship is observed on a day in summer when the full moon occurs near the last star of the constellation Scorpio. There is a huge ficus tree known as the Great Banyan in the Indian Botanic Garden in Howrah. It is considered to be one of the largest trees in the world in terms of area covered.

When a toddler, I believed banyan trees are the home of scary ghosts and always ran as fast as I could when I had to go past them. I think I still believe that is true and would not come near here at night.

March 15, 2007

Miami has a large population of huge banyan trees. Many of them were uprooted during the hurricanes of recent years, but you cannot travel in Miami and avoid seeing them. They are large trees and can provide a source of shellac and dye. Shellac is produced by lac insects that grow on banyan trees as parasites and it is an important ingredient in French polish.

The close up shows the trunk of a banyan tree being strangled by its aerial roots. If you look closely, the new leaves grow from the smaller roots to produce tiny new plants that can be transplanted. The small aerial root seen on the right will become huge if left untouched. This banyan is no other than the sacred Ficus Religiosa that I talked about on March 09. As I began searching for them in Miami, I found a dozen trees on this well traveled North South road. In this photo, you can see the characteristic shape of the sacred leaves of this tree.

The large tree trunk dwarfs the road side bus stop shelter, which is only a few feet away. As always, ads appear on every visible surface areas and this ad sells the dark Dominican Republic rum "Ron Barcelo Imperial."