Banyan

Banyan, also banian, is the Indian fig, a tree whose branches produce aerial roots bending to the ground, that take root and form new stocks by becoming accessory trunks, till they cover a large area and become a forest. It was under theses trees the Hindu traders or merchants (Banik in Sanskrit) used to build pagodas. Europeans applied the name 'banyan' to such a particular tree having a temple underneath in the mid 17th century. The term was later applied to the whole species, whose botanical name is Ficus benghalensis belonging to the family Moraceae.

Nearby pages
Banzai, Bao, Baobab, Baotou, Bapatla Lok Sabha Constituency