It’s not all palm trees

PANORAMA OF MIRROR LAKE PARK TREE

banyan tree as metaphor

When we as humans lived closer to the earth, in huts with dirt floors instead of high-rise condos, walking in bare feet instead of Crocs (my favorite shoe), sleeping under the glow of the moon and stars instead of the glow from the television, the other occupants of our world—geographical features, weather, plants, animals, the clockwork of the heavens—we imbued with meaning. They were an integral part of our lives with very little boundary between their identity and our own, cradling and influencing us (literally and metaphorically).

Trees play an especially important role in the world’s different religions, particularly the banyan tree which provides a shelter for many birds and small animals and has served as a meeting place for humans for millennia. For one author, its multiple roots serve as a metaphor for Cambodia, one of the places it’s found. The Banyan Tree Foundation is a Canadian organization that helps to fund a large number of charities, much as the banyan tree provides for many small creatures.

SIDE VIEW OF MIRROR LAKE PARK TREE

In India, another place the tree is found, it has a rich symbolism. Quoting from gurjari.net, “The tree symbolizes the Trimurti. Vishnu is believed to be the bark, Brahma, the roots, and Shiva, the branches.

“The banyan is said to have nourished mankind with its ‘milk’ before the advent of grain and other food. According to the Agni Purana, the banyan symbolizes fertility and is worshipped by those who want children. For the same reason, it is never cut. Even its leaves, which are used as cattle fodder, are broken only when there is a famine. It is believed that if the tree is cut, a goat should be sacrificed in atonement.

“The Puranas tell the story of Savitri, who lost her husband a year after their marriage. He died under a banyan tree and by worshipping it, Savitri was able to follow Yama himself and win back her husband’s life as well as secure prosperity and progeny. This powerful legend has made Savitri an ideal of Indian womanhood and established the Vat-Savitri Vrata (see vrata). On the full-moon night in Jyeshtha, married women fast and circumambulate the banyan to pray for the long and healthy life of their husbands.

“According to the Vishnu Purana, during the deluge at the end of an epoch or yuga, Vishnu sleeps on a banyan leaf. It also compares Vishnu to the seed of the banyan: just as a huge tree originates from and is contained in one little seed, the entire universe is reduced to its germ after these periodic deluges. This germ is contained in Vishnu, who then recreates the universe

“According to another legend, Banyan Tree is believed to have originally been situated in Vasuki’s garden. Amba or Mother Earth, wanted it for her children. After a fight with Vasuki and by invoking Shiva’s help, Amba managed to obtain the banyan.”

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS TREES, FULL, LOOKING SOUTH

A PDF, Flowering Trees and Shrubs in India, a magnificent and very intriguing monograph, details the differences between the Ficus bengalensis and the Ficus religiosa. He also shares memories of his childhood in India, such as this one (page 45):

“WALKING in the country one day I came across a venerable old Banyan tree, its pillared arms extending an offer of cool shade away from the heat and glare of the Indian sun. I wandered among the arcades and marveled at the vast area which this one tree covered and recalled the descriptive lines —

“Branching so broad and long that in the ground
The bending twigs take root and daughters grow
About the mother tree, a pillared shade ——
High over-arched with echoing walks between

“Then I remembered a picture once seen of a whole village settled beneath the canopy of a Banyan tree. Other memories came – legend of folklore which told of ghosts and dark spirits inhabiting old Banyan trees, but I passed those over as nonsense. Later in the day, however, I again came that way. The sun was well below the horizon and this time I saw an evil old giant, his snake-like arms extended, waiting to crush some helpless victim. A sinister atmosphere surrounded the place – no need then to recall the tales of ghosts and devils!

“There are those for whom this tree with its ability to support its growing weight by an ever-widening circle of root-like branches represents eternal life. By them it is worshipped and .special prayers are offered to it on Vat-Savitri day.”

BOTH MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS TREES, CLOSER, LOOKING SOUTH

Buddha and the bo tree

In Buddhism, the story is that after trying both extremes of life (pleasure and asceticism) and not finding enlightenment, the Buddha sat under the bo (or bodhi) tree, vowing not to arise until he’d solved the problem of existence—which, eventually he did. The bo tree—or wild fig (Ficus religiosa)–is a relative of the banyan tree (Ficus bengalensis), although some simply say he sat under a banyan tree, other say a fig tree. (See the Google Books scan of The Historical Buddha for details of the life of Buddha.)

STANDING BETWEEN THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS TREES, LOOKING AT SOUTHERNMOST TREE

fig trees

A Banyan tree is a ficus, or fig tree, from the mulberry family and is an epiphytic. An epiphytic plant is an air plant, meaning a plant whose roots don’t form in the soil. In the banyan tree, the roots form high up in the tops of the host tree, drooping gracefully down toward the ground—they are clearly visible in the pictures in this post–and eventually taking over the host and expanding outward more and more. The Wise Geek has some good basic information on the tree including many of its medicinal and industrial uses.

The edible fig—what we see in Publix—is Ficus carica, also called the Small Banyan, or edible fig, which seems to grow a little farther north: Mississippi Gulf coast, Texas, southern Europe, Turkey, the middle east, etc. (see economicexpert.com.

Although I wasn’t able to find a map showing the pattern of locations where banyan trees (Ficus bengalensis) are found, it seems to form a band a little farther south than where the edible fig is found, on either side of the equator reaching as far north as Florida and as far south as Australia. All the mention I found of banyan trees seems restricted to these, and nearby, locations: south China, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Hawaii, Florida, Africa, Tanzania, Bangladesh, India, and Australia. A tree nicknamed, “Thimmamma Marimanu,” near Gooty in Andhra Pradesh , India, is the world’s largest tree with 1650 roots, over 570 years old, and covering more than 5 acres! I’m familiar with at least two on the islands of Hawaii.

STANDING BETWEEN THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS TREES, LOOKING AT NORTHERNMOST TREE

banyan trees in the Tampa Bay Area

The Tampa bay area is rich with them. All the ones pictured here are from just two locations in St. Petersburg: one just in front of the Sunshine Center at the Mirror Lake Park and the other (I’m not sure if it’s actually two or one that has spread to appear to be two trees) on the north lawn of the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts.

According to the Wikipedia Banyan entry, “The first banyan tree in the U.S. was planted by Thomas Alva Edison in Fort Myers, Florida. It was given to Edison by Harvey Firestone after Firestone visited India in 1925 and was planted in the Edison and Ford Winter Estates. The tree, originally only 4 feet (1.2 m) tall, now covers 400 feet (120 m).”

CLOSEUP OF OPENINGS IN TRUNK

banyan bonsai

When researching this post I was surprised to discover that the banyan tree can be grown as a bonsai! There’s an excellent picture of just such a thing at fukubonsai. If you’re interested in trying your hand at a banyan bonsai, you might also consult these three resources:

• Growing a banyan tree
• Banyan, Grow It
• Bonsai Forums

As I say, it’s not just palm trees down here; the banyan tree—although not indigenous to Florida—has flourished here and, as elsewhere in history and the world, continues to inspire and nurture.