Fig Trees of Africa and Asia: Banyan, bodhi fig, common fig, and sycamore fig.

By Joan Zimmerman, Ph.D.

Discover the fig (Ficus), sacred to many in Asia.

Recommended books.

Remarkable Trees of the World by Thomas Pakenham. Great treasury of 60 trees of unusually strong personality. Photographed in North America, Mexico, Europe, Japan, other parts of Asia, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Ancient Trees: Trees that Live for a Thousand Years by Anna Lewington and Edward Parker.

	Deforesting the Earth: From Prehistory to Global Crisis by Michael Williams.
Books read.	Current hot books on trees and forests.
Ecology. Evolution notes.	Trees of North American. Trees of the American Pacific Northwest.
Forest and Tree Home,	Glossary pages: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

Banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis), bodhi fig (F. religiosa), common fig (F. carica), and sycamore fig (F. sycomorus): General.

• More than 800 species of fig worldwide.
• In the Moraceae family (like the mulberry).

Banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis).

• Large-canopied tree. One planted 200 years ago in the Calcutta Botanic Garden (India) has a crown of average diameter over 430 feet.
• Tangled branches.
• Aerial roots hang down from the branches.
• A banyan by the Nebudda River (east of Bombay) has a canopy diameter of 637 feet.
• Mature trees develop multiple main stems (320 are reported for the Nebudda banyan) and small stems (3000 for that same tree).
• Banyan is sacred in India, China, southeast Asia.

Bodhi fig (Ficus religiosa).

• A large, fast-growing deciduous tree.
• Smooth grey bark, fluted trunk.
• Heart-shaped leaves on long, thin stems. These shimmer easily in a light breeze.
• The bodhi (or bo) tree is revered by Buddhists (who regard it as the personification of Buddha ( see information on Basic Buddhism)) and Hindus (who regard it as the tree beneath which Vishnu was born).
• "Bodhi" means "tree of knowledge."
• Grows naturally in India and Nepal.

Common fig (Ficus carica).

• Small tree up to 30 feet tall with low, wide, and rounded crown.
• Palmate leaves, 6" long and nearly as broad, 3-to-5 lobes.
• Sweet, pulpy, many-seeded dark-brown fruit.

Sycamore fig (Ficus sycomorus).

• Small tree up to 40 feet tall with canopy to about 120 feet in diameter.
• Robust, semi-evergreen.
• Main trunk divides into many spreading branches close to the ground.
• Pale-brown thin bark.
• Sycamore fig was sacred to ancient Egyptians, who revered it as the "Tree of Life."
• Grows naturally in the Middle East and through most of Africa.

Links and References.

• Some of the above data are abstracted from the beautifully written and gorgeously illustrated Ancient Trees: Trees that Live for a Thousand Years by Anna Lewington and Edward Parker. We highly recommend this book.
• Home and Index of Articles.
• Baobab, the world's widest tree.
• Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)
• Ginkgo.
• Pines.
• Welwitschia mirabilis, the Namibian survivalist tree.

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Copyright © 2001-2006 by Joan Zimmerman.