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banyan tree, Indian banyan

Florida strangler, Florida strangler fig, golden fig, strangler fig

Habit Trees, evergreen, to 30 m. Trees, evergreen, to 20 m.
Roots

aerial, often descending to ground level and forming pillar-roots Bark of trunks and older branches brown, smooth.

aerial, sometimes present on branches, pendent, sometimes reaching ground and forming pillar-roots.

Bark

gray, smooth.

Branchlets

puberulent, glabrescent in age.

yellow.

Leaves

blade ovate, 10-30 × 7-20 cm, leathery, base cordate, margins entire, apex obtuse;

surfaces abaxially puberulent, adaxially glabrous;

basal veins (2-)3-4 pairs, 1/3-1/2 length of blade, reticulations regular;

lateral veins 5-6(-7) pairs.

blade ovate to oblong or obovate, 6-12(-15) × 3.5-6 cm, leathery, base rounded to cuneate, margins entire, apex obtuse or shortly and bluntly acuminate;

surfaces abaxially and adaxially glabrous;

basal veins 1(-2) pairs;

lateral veins fewer than 10, if more these not uniformly spaced.

Syconia

paired, sessile, orange or red, depressed-globose, 1.5-2 × 2-2.5 mm, pubescent; subtending bracts ovate, 3-7 mm, puberulous;

ostiole closed by 3 flat or nearly umbonate apical bracts 3-4 mm wide.

usually paired, usually sessile, rarely with peduncles to 5 mm, red or yellow, obovoid, 6-15 mm diam., glabrous; subtending bracts 2, 3-5 mm, glabrous;

ostiole prominent, closed by 3 conspicuous scales.

Ficus benghalensis

Ficus aurea

Phenology Flowering all year. Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Disturbed thickets Frequent in swamps, tropical hammocks, borders of mangrove swamps
Elevation 0-10 m (0-0 ft) 0-10 m (0-0 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; Asia (native to Pakistan and India) [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; West Indies
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Moraceae > Ficus Moraceae > Ficus
Sibling taxa
F. americana, F. aurea, F. benjamina, F. carica, F. citrifolia, F. elastica, F. microcarpa, F. pumila, F. religiosa
F. americana, F. benghalensis, F. benjamina, F. carica, F. citrifolia, F. elastica, F. microcarpa, F. pumila, F. religiosa
Synonyms F. aurea var. latifolia
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1059. (1753) Nuttall: N. Amer. Sylv. 2: 4, plate 43. (1846)
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