The banyan tree is a member of the fig family known for its massive size and unique growth pattern. It often looks more like a small forest than an individual tree, with additional trunks descending from its branches towards the ground.
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The banyan tree’s aerial roots prop it up and allow it to spread over enormous areas, making some banyans the largest trees in the world by canopy coverage.
The biggest of the banyans are truly enormous in scale: the Great Banyan in Kolkata, India, has over 2,880 supplementary trunks and covers approximately 3.5-4.5 acres, while Thimmamma Marrimanu in Andhra Pradesh (also in India) spans nearly 5 acres, supported by almost 4,000 prop roots.
The banyan tree begins its life as an epiphyte (a plant that grows on another plant) and has a habit of strangling its host. Because banyan tree seeds are small, they’re unlikely to survive on the ground. Fortunately (for the banyan), many seeds fall on the branches and stems of other trees, so the banyan can grow roots down toward the ground and envelop part of the host tree. Eventually, it strangles it by competing for light, water and nutrients.
Banyan trees are extremely important to their ecosystems, often acting as a keystone species. The sprawling canopy provides shade and shelter for plants that might’ve not survived otherwise. And even the ‘strangled’ host tree plays a part once it decays, leaving a hollowed-out space that becomes home for birds and other animals.
Top image credit: Thank you for your assistant/Getty Images
