Ficus benghalensis L. (MORACEAE)
Common names
Kannada: Alada mara.
Tulu: Goli Mara.
Malayalam: Vatam.
Sanskrit: Bahupada, Vata.
Tamil: Aal, Per aal,
Telugu: Pedda marri.
English: Banyan tree.
Description: Towering trees, reaching heights of up to 30 meters, produce abundant aerial roots descending from their branches and contain milky latex in their vegetative parts. Leaves alternate, ovate or elliptic-ovate, 10-20 x 5-13 cm, rounded or subcordate at base, obtuse at apex, entire, glabrescent above, minutely pubescent beneath; basal nerves 3-7, lateral nerves 5-7 pairs; distinct reticulation; petioles 3-5 cm long; stipules 2-2.5 cm long, coriaceous. Receptacle sessile, in pairs, axillary, subglobose; bracts 3. perianth lobes 4, lanceolate. Male flowers: numerous near the mouth of the receptacles. Stamen 1. Gall flowers: style short. Fertile flowers: ovary 1-locular; style elongate. Figs sessile, globular, ca 2 cm across, silky pubescent, red when ripe. Seeds many, minute.
Flowering : December – April.
Fruiting : March – June.
Distribution: India: Common throughout. Sri Lanka, Pakistan.
Uses:
- Wood greyish white, moderately hard, durable under water and used for well-curbs, also for tent poles, cart yokes and carrying shafts. A coarse rope is prepared from the bark and aerial roots of the tree. Trials have shown that the wood is suitable for the production of paper pulp.
- The leaves are regularly trimmed for use as fodder. Widely cultivated as a tree lining avenues and for providing shade. Young tips of hanging roots given for obstinate vomiting; latex externally applied for pains and bruises, used in rheumatism and lumbago and also used as a remedy for toothache; infusion of bark tonic, astringent, used in diarrhea, dysentery and diabetes; leaves tonic and cooling, heated and powdered to poultice to abscesses; infusion of young buds useful in diarrhoea and dysentery; seeds cooling and tonic.