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News: Recently, a banyan tree in Munger, Bihar, estimated to be around 700 years old, has been identified as the oldest accurately dated banyan tree.
About Oldest Banyan Tree
- It is an evergreen, fast-growing tree native to the Indian subcontinent.
- It is one of the world’s largest trees based on canopy size.
- Scientific name: Its scientific name is Ficus benghalensis.
- Habitat: It grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.
- Distribution: It is native to Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Laccadive Islands, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
- Features:
- It can grow 20 – 30 m or more tall.
- It grows in moist tropical and subtropical regions at elevations of 500–1,200 m.
- It thrives in temperatures of 26–36°C and can tolerate 9–40°C.
- It prefers annual rainfall of 1,000–2,500 mm.
- It prefers fertile, light to medium-textured soils with pH 5.5–7.0.
- It usually begins growing in the branch of another tree, and as it grows older, it sends down aerial roots, which quickly form roots and become much thicker and more vigorous.
- Uses: It is harvested from the wild for its edible fruit and medicinal uses.
- It also supplies timber and a material for tying.
- It also grows as an ornamental and to provide shade along roads, as well as in parks and large gardens
- Cultural significance: It is considered sacred by Hindus and is commonly planted for religious purposes.
- In Theravada Buddhism, it is said to have been used as the tree for achieving enlightenment, or Bodhi, by the twenty fourth buddha called “Kassapa”.
