1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:08,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Lauren Vogelbam. 2 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:13,240 Speaker 1: Here in Kolkata, the capital of the Indian state of 3 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:17,239 Speaker 1: West Bengal, tourists flock to a botanical garden to see what, 4 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: at first glance, looks like an expansive forest. Branches of 5 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:24,119 Speaker 1: green leaves create a canopy about the size of a 6 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: Manhattan city block. But the most interesting thing about this 7 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: collection of plant life is that it's not a collection 8 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:34,559 Speaker 1: at all. It's one massive tree, known simply as the 9 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: Great Banyan tree, and all of those apparently distinct members 10 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: of a forest are actually one of about three thousand, 11 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 1: six hundred aerial roots that this single organism has put 12 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 1: down over its two hundred and fifty years of life. 13 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 1: If you're wondering how in the world one tree could 14 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: cover some fourteen thousand, five hundred square feet of space 15 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: that's about three hundred and fifty square meters, and grow 16 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: branches as high as eight feet that's twenty five meters 17 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:05,119 Speaker 1: and survive over two and a half centuries, it's time 18 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: to get to know a special group of trees known 19 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: as banyans. Abanyons are part of the Picus or fig genus, 20 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: and their history is rooted unintended in South Asia. Originally 21 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:22,320 Speaker 1: the name only referred to a single species, a Ficus bengalensis, 22 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: named for the Hindu merchants and traders who conducted their 23 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: business under the trees canopies. In these days, the name 24 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: can refer to a number of species that fall under 25 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,680 Speaker 1: the not at all threatening sounding category of strangler figs. 26 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: This means the trees grow from seeds that land on 27 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: other trees, growing their own vines up and sending their 28 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: own roots down to smother their hosts. Before the article, 29 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: this episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke via 30 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: email with Aaron Alvarez and Bart Schitzman, both lectures in 31 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: the Environmental Horticulture department at the University of Florida. They 32 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: explained these plants all start life as a seed that 33 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: germinates on another tree, grows as a vine, dependent on 34 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: the tree for support, and eventually strangles its host tree, 35 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: subsuming its structure. Later, roots grow from outward extending branches 36 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: and reach the ground, becoming trunk like and expanding the 37 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: footprint of the tree, sometimes gaining it in the colloquial 38 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: name of a walking tree. While Kolkatta's Great Banyon is 39 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 1: by far the greatest of them all. A Banyons as 40 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: a species dominate size wise, at least in broadness. They're 41 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:35,960 Speaker 1: the world's biggest trees in terms of the area they cover. 42 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: When it comes to overall volume, however, they lose to 43 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: the giant Sequoia. We've talked on the show before about 44 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: the two thousand year old tree named General Sherman living 45 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: in California's Sequoia National Park. That's about fifty two thousand, 46 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: five hundred cubic feet and volume or about one thousand, 47 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: five hundred cubic meters. The banyan is considered a particularly 48 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: meaningful tree in cultures around India and other parts of 49 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: the world, with rich historical and spiritual ties. In Hinduism, 50 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: the banyan is associated with the god of death, Yama, 51 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: and is often planted near crematoriums outside of villages, and 52 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: stories say that the god Krishna stood beneath the banyan 53 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:18,519 Speaker 1: tree when he delivered the teachings of the Scripture. The 54 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: Bagavad Gida Hindu texts written over two thousand, five hundred 55 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: years ago, describe a cosmic world tree an upside down 56 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,679 Speaker 1: growing banyan that has roots in heaven and extends new 57 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,559 Speaker 1: growth from trunks and branches down toward earth to deliver blessings. 58 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: Over the centuries, the banyan tree took on significance as 59 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:42,560 Speaker 1: a symbol of fertility, life, and resurrection. A word got 60 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: around about them, and the poet John Milton wrote about 61 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: Adam and Eve making their first clothes out of banyan 62 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: leaves in his epic Paradise Lost. The banyan has also 63 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: served as a source of medicine and food for centuries, 64 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: and the bark and roots are still used today to 65 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: treat a variety of maladies in Aurvedic medicine. When the 66 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: British invaded India, the tree was twisted to a newly 67 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: dark purpose, often used as gallows to execute rebels who 68 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: resisted their rule. When India gained independence, the people reclaimed 69 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:18,280 Speaker 1: the banyan as well, making it their national tree. A 70 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: Banyans are native to and thrive in what's now India, Bangladesh, 71 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:26,160 Speaker 1: and Pakistan, but these days variations of the majestic trees 72 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: can be found in other tropical regions, such as areas 73 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: of Florida. In some places, they've even become invasive. There's 74 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:37,919 Speaker 1: also one famous species representative on the Hawaiian island of Maui, 75 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: the Lahina banyan tree, planted in eighteen seventy three and 76 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:44,600 Speaker 1: presented to the sheriff in town by missionaries from India. 77 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: Now forty feet or twelve meters tall, the Lahina banyan 78 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,480 Speaker 1: has a canopy circumference spanning a quarter mile that's about 79 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:58,160 Speaker 1: four hundred meters. Today's banyans aren't just beautiful and symbolic. 80 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 1: The species also comes in handy for practical purposes. Alvarez 81 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 1: and Shutsmen said this ability of tiny picus roots to 82 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: become trunk like structures is used by the people of Megalaya, 83 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: India to create footbridges across streams that become raging rivers 84 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: during the monsoon season. They weave the tiny roots of 85 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:21,360 Speaker 1: our well known rubber tree another Ficus together to cross 86 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: the streams. They enlarge and form sturdy structures that can 87 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: live five hundred years or more and do not get 88 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: washed away during the storms. However, although you may be 89 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 1: tempted to grow your very own great banyan tree now 90 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: that you know the unique magic of their aerial roots, 91 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: they need some pretty specific conditions. Alvarez and Shutsmen said 92 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:45,280 Speaker 1: the best way to care for them is to give 93 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: them plenty of space and warm, wet, humid weather. So 94 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: most banyans don't make very good plants for regular home gardens. 95 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,480 Speaker 1: A few species have adapted to indoor environments and can 96 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:59,159 Speaker 1: be grown in bright in direct light with regular watering. However, 97 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:01,359 Speaker 1: they are not as long long lived as their relatives 98 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:08,839 Speaker 1: in the wild. Today's episode is based on the article 99 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 1: the mighty Banyan tree can walk and live for centuries 100 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:15,480 Speaker 1: on how Stuffworks dot Com, written by Michelle Constantinofsky. Brain 101 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks 102 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more 103 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:25,160 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio. Visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 104 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.