FICUS BENGHALENSIS, INDIAN BANYAN FIG EVERGREEN TREE, 10 IN SOUTH AFRICA

Ficus is a pan-tropical genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Ficus occupies a wide variety of ecological niches; most are evergreen, but some deciduous species are endemic to areas outside of the tropics and to higher elevations. Fig species are characterized by their unique inflorescence and distinctive pollination syndrome, which utilizes wasp species belonging to the Agaonidae family for pollination. The fruit of most species are edible though they are usually of only local economic importance or eaten as bushfood. However, they are extremely important food resources for wildlife. Figs are also of considerable cultural importance throughout the tropics, both as objects of worship and for their many practical uses.            Ficus benghalensis commonly known as Banyan Fig Tree, Indian Banyan is a large and extensive growing tree of the Indian subcontinent. Ficus benghalensis is a popular bonsai subject and produces propagating roots which grow downwards as aerial roots. Once these roots reach the ground, they grow into woody trunks that can become indistinguishable from the main trunk. This tree is considered sacred in India, and often shelters a little or larger temple underneath, but is offered worship on its own generally too, and especially so on one particular full moon day in summer when the full moon occurs near the last star of the constellation Scorpio but definitely before beginning of Sagittarius. Even apart from the worship and magic, it is one of the most sheltering trees in the heat of the land, with a large and deep shade, and is thus extremely useful for travelers of the old sort - on foot, bicycles or oxcarts, or horse riders - travelling for hours or days; traditionally it was found almost ubiquitously on roads and in village centers, the latter very useful for any formal or informal gathering to be conducted in a cool place or even for any poor person or a traveler to sleep under. The respect for this and other trees of this nature is thus linked both to the use and the worship as sacred. Also known as Indian Banyan, Ficus bengalensis is also the National tree of India.