The Banyan – Life giver or life taker?

[raghu ananth]

The Banyan – Life giver or life taker?

The banyan tree has provided many a shade to a weary traveller. As children, we have swung to and fro clinging to its strong roots/branches and sometimes even fall down! But the majestic banyan is also known to be a parasite! Holidaying in my hometown last week, we chanced to witness a banyan tree entangling an adult Gulmohar tree (host) in the premises of the now abandoned railway station (a century old) . Most of the southern railway stations in Mysore district have tall, huge and magnificient  trees (  will post a small write-up on them soon ).

 

 The banyan tree now seems to tower over the gulmohar for about 10 meters.  Though it appears that it has still not been able to cut through the outer bark of the gulmohar, the aerial roots of the banyan have however pierced the ground below.
The gulmohar still bears hundreds of long seeds and looks beautiful with red flowers. But can we still see this natural spectacle or will the banyan smother the gulmohar? One needs to wait and watch.

Banyan - Ficus Bengalensis, Fam: Moraceae 

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan_tree

 

GulMohar - May flower - Delonix regia

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delonix_regia

 

07 Apr 2008

 

Thanks

Raghu / Sunita

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[J.M. Garg]

It's in the nature of Ficus trees. See the link below as to how they strangle the others: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/strangler_figs.htm

On 4/11/08, raghu ananth <ragh...@yahoo.com> wrote:

The Banyan - Life giver or life taker?

For my Birds, Butterflies, Trees, Landscape pictures etc., visit  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/J.M.Garg

[Vasant Barve]

In my opinion strangler takes support on the host tree but no way kills the tree.

There are many strangler banyans in and around Mumbai on Tad (Tal, palm trees) The palms are comfortable years together. I have seen some 200 300 year old Mandirs with banyan on them. In fact some times it appears that banyan is holding together falling temple. Such a beautiful site was there near Baneshwar Pune. The name strangler is not making a justice. It is only hugging like a creeper.


--
Dr. Vasant Barve
# 9 Sneha Nagar 1st Cross, Amrutahalli, Main
Road Byatrayan Pura Bangalore 560 092,
Phone (R) 080 2353 3244, (M) 99455 99198

[sibda...@gmail.com]

I recount some spectacular formations I had seen in the Namdhapa
Forests of Arunachal Pradesh bordering Myanmar.Ficus plants growing on
top of some palms 30-40 ft. high, sending their roots down ward like
fingers, some already in contact with soil, killing the palms
completely, some times with fine arches of roots, making aweful
formations- Sibdas Ghosh

[Neil Soares]

Hi Mr Garg, Sibdas and Dr. Barve,
In the tropical rain forests, strangler figs
start their lives as epiphytes in the canopy
approximately 200 feet above the ground. [Our
specimens in the Indian sub-continent are dwarfed by
their tropical counterparts.] Once it has established
itself it sends a root abruptly down to earth. Soon
more roots are sent down the trunk of the support
tree, plastered against its trunk. In extreme forms of
stranglers the roots coalesce to form a cramped basket
around the tree trunk. Then as the tree attempts to
grow they crush it to death. The strangler also
affects the support tree by overshadowing it with its
dense foliage thereby interfering with its
photosynthesis and competing with its roots for
nutrients and water.
The strangler fig impedes expansion of the tree
which is absolutely necessary for the trees survival
as in the trunk new vessels must periodically replace
dying ones. If rings of vessels cannot be added by
increasing trunk girth, nutrients and water cease to
flow.
This is why strangler figs seldom kill palm
trees as palms have thick, hard barks and do not need
to grow in diameter to replace their vessels.
The Pipal tree seems especially malicious.
Starting as an epiphyte, it drives roots into the
host, literally tearing it apart. The tree corpse,
cradled in the arms of its slayer then rots and falls
away.
At my farm at Shahapur [near Bombay], I have
an old Banyan tree that started life as a strangler as
evidenced by the void left behind where the supporting
tree once stood.
[Have not been able to establish the identity of the
original tree though].
Am sending a few photographs as attachments.
With regards,
Neil Soares.

--- "sibda...@gmail.com" <sibda...@gmail.com>
wrote:

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[Vasant Barve]

Wonderful Observations & Explanations,
All the strangler I saw on Tad-palm were at mid height and hence they didn't stopped the photosynthesis of the palm atall