The structure of the banyan tree has had me in awe for years upon moving to Hawaii.
I still am so amazed by this tree.
Are they branches, roots, octopus legs?
After being surrounded by these amazing trees for the past few years, I finally had to look into what exactly structures it.
Here is what I found:
The banyan tree produces seeds which are dispersed by birds and germinated by fig wasps. When these seeds land on the branches of a banyan tree, it grows roots downward. These prop roots can grow to be as large as the original trunk which makes it difficult to distinguish which is which!
So, to answer my question, there is a center trunk surrounded by aerial roots dangling from the tree. Once it hits the ground and below, it becomes a prop root mimicking the trunk.
I’m glad to know…they just look like an octopus and that it has not been overtaken by one! haha
With Aloha,
Lacy
Finding Thankfulness in the Crappy Situations
Like a tree planted by a stream
It is good to learn something new from each post 🙂
There is so much to learn!
Nice and informative 😊
Thank you! I’ve always wondered. So, I finally looked into it!
Those trees amaze me when we travel in the south. It is good to know some of the names of the parts of this tree such as “prop root” and “aerial root”. I didn’t know what to call them.
I didn’t know either-I seriously called them octopus legs. Haha
Quite informative ! 😇
I wondered for so long. It was high time I researched it and found out! Ha
It’s so beautiful and mysterious!
I love the way it was lit up at this resort! It added to the beauty!
That is a scary tree! I’d be very cautious about taking a nap under it for more than a few months!
lol! A few months! That sounds magical!
Ha! I knew you would catch that.