HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:34:01 GMT
Server: Apache/2.2.9 (Unix) PHP/5.2.6 mod_ssl/2.2.9 OpenSSL/0.9.8e
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Content-Length: 9531
Connection: close
Content-Type: text/html

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">

<html>
<head>
<title>Fig Trees of Africa and Asia: Banyan, bodhi fig, common fig, and sycamore fig.</title>
<link rel=stylesheet type="text/css" href="img/atree.css" >
<meta name= "keywords"    content= "forest, forests, tree, trees, wood, woods, fig, fig tree, Africa, Asia, banyan, bodhi fig, common fig, sycamore fig">
<meta name= "description" content= "Fig Trees of Africa and Asia: Banyan, bodhi fig, common fig, and sycamore fig">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> 
</head>

<body>
<!--
Probability of starting here (from Sitemeter July 2004): 10% ~ 1K+/week ~ 100/week
Less in Feb 2006 with ~ 600/week and 11% => 66/week.
-->
<table cellSpacing=0 cellpadding=3 width="100%" border=0>
  <tr>
    <td><A href="index.htm">
	<img alt="Forest Home" src="img/t.forestHeading.jpg" border=0></A>
    <td>
	<h1>Fig Trees of Africa and Asia: 
	<br>Banyan, bodhi fig, common fig, and 
sycamore fig.</h1>
</td></tr></table>

<p><strong><em>By J. Zimmerman, Ph.D.</em></strong>

<p>
Discover the fig (<em>Ficus</em>), sacred to many in Asia.

<p><table class="H3table">
<tr><td class="H3box">
      <h3>Recommended books.</h3>
</td></tr></table>

<p><table class="white" align="CENTER" cellSpacing=0 cellpadding=3 border=1 frame=box>
<tr><td>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393049116/forestsofcali-20">
	<img alt="Buy Remarkable Trees of the World" src="img/t.remarkable.world.0393049116.jpg" 
	border=0>	
</a> 
  <td>
  <a 
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1855857049/forestsofcali-20">
<em>Remarkable Trees of the World</em></a> 
by Thomas Pakenham. 
<br>Great treasury of 60 trees of unusually strong 
personality. Photographed in
North America, Mexico, Europe, Japan, other parts of Asia,
Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
<td>
<a 
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0520221109/forestsofcali-20">
<img alt="Buy Trees of California" SRC="img/t.ancientTrees.jpg"  border=0>
</a> 
  <td>
  <a 
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1855857049/forestsofcali-20"><em>Ancient 
Trees: Trees that Live for a Thousand Years</em></a> by Anna Lewington and 
Edward Parker. 
</td></tr>
</table>

<table align="CENTER" cellSpacing=0 cellpadding=3 border=1 frame=box>
 <tr><td class="copyright">
    <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=forestsofcali-20">
	<img alt="Support us -- Buy at Amazon" src="img/buy.at.amazon.banner.jpg" border=0></a>
  </td></tr>
</table>
<table ALIGN="CENTER" cellSpacing=0 cellpadding=3 border=1 frame=box>
<tr class="copyright"><td> 
 <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0226899268/forestsofcali-20">
    <img alt="BUY 'Deforesting the Earth'" 
	     src="img/t.williamsDeforest.0226899268.jpg" border=0></a>	
  <td>
  <a href="bookreview/review.williams.deforesting.earth.htm">
  <big><em>Deforesting the Earth: From Prehistory to Global Crisis</em></big></a>
<br>by Michael Williams.
</td></tr>
<tr class="copyright"><td>  
<a href="http://members.cruzio.com/~zdino/bookReviews/jz.book.blog.htm">
<img alt="new" src="img/newy.gif" border=0>
Books read.
</a>
<td>
<p><img alt="new" src="img/newy.gif" border=0>
<a href="books.about.forests.trees.search.htm">
 Current hot books on trees and forests.
</a>
</td></tr>

<tr class="copyright">
<td><img alt="*" src="img/star.gif" border=0>
  <a href="http://www.rattlebrain.com/~edu/psychology/ecology.htm">
  Ecology</a>.
  <img alt="*" src="img/star.gif" border=0>
  <a href="http://www.rattlebrain.com/~edu/psychology/evolution.htm">Evolution notes</a>.
<td>
<img alt="You are a star" src="img/star.gif" width="12" height="12" border=0> 
<a href="species/trees.of.north.america.htm">
      Trees of North American</a>.
<br><img alt="You are a star" src="img/star.gif" width="12" height="12" border=0> 
<a href="species/trees.of.american.pacific.northwest.htm">
      Trees of the American Pacific Northwest</a>.
</td></tr>
<tr class="copyright"><td>
  <a href="index.htm">Forest and Tree Home</a>,
<td>
Glossary pages:
  <a href="treeglossary.w01.htm">A</a>, <a href="treeglossary.w02.htm">B</a>,
  <a href="treeglossary.w03.htm">C</a>, <a href="treeglossary.w04.htm">D</a>,
  <a href="treeglossary.w05.htm">E</a>, <a href="treeglossary.w06.htm">F</a>,
  <a href="treeglossary.w07.htm">G</a>, <a href="treeglossary.w08.htm">H</a>,
  <a href="treeglossary.w09.htm">I</a>, <a href="treeglossary.w10.htm">J</a>,
  <a href="treeglossary.w11.htm">K</a>, <a href="treeglossary.w12.htm">L</a>,
  <a href="treeglossary.w13.htm">M</a>, <a href="treeglossary.w14.htm">N</a>,
  <a href="treeglossary.w15.htm">O</a>, <a href="treeglossary.w16.htm">P</a>,
  <a href="treeglossary.w17.htm">Q</a>, <a href="treeglossary.w18.htm">R</a>,
  <a href="treeglossary.w19.htm">S</a>, <a href="treeglossary.w20.htm">T</a>,
  <a href="treeglossary.w21.htm">U</a>, <a href="treeglossary.w22.htm">V</a>,
  <a href="treeglossary.w23.htm">W</a>, <a href="treeglossary.w24.htm">X</a>,
  <a href="treeglossary.w25.htm">Y</a>, <a href="treeglossary.w26.htm">Z</a>.
</td></tr>
</table>

<p><table class="H3table">
<tr><td class="H3box">
      <h3>Banyan tree (<em>Ficus benghalensis</em>), bodhi fig (<em>F. 
      religiosa</em>), <br>common fig (<em>F. carica</em>), and sycamore fig 
      (<em>F. sycomorus</em>): <br>General.</h3>
</td></tr></table>

<p>
<ul>
  <li>More than 800 species of fig worldwide. 
  <li>In the Moraceae family (like the mulberry). </li></ul>

<p><table class="H3table">
<tr><td class="H3box">
      <h3>Banyan tree (<em>Ficus benghalensis</em>).</h3>
</td></tr></table>

<ul>
  <li>Large-canopied tree. One planted 200 years ago in the Calcutta Botanic 
  Garden (India) has a crown of average diameter over 430 feet. 
  <li>Tangled branches. 
  <li>Aerial roots hang down from the branches. 
  <li>A banyan by the Nebudda River (east of Bombay) has a canopy diameter of 
  637 feet. 
  <li>Mature trees develop multiple main stems (320 are reported for the Nebudda 
  banyan) and small stems (3000 for that same tree). 
  <li>Banyan is sacred in India, China, southeast Asia. </li></ul>

<p><table class="H3table">
<tr><td class="H3box">
      <h3>Bodhi fig (<em>Ficus religiosa</em>).</h3>
</td></tr></table>
<p>
<ul>
  <li>A large, fast-growing deciduous tree. 
  <li>Smooth grey bark, fluted trunk. 
  <li>Heart-shaped leaves on long, thin stems. These shimmer easily in a light 
  breeze. 
  <li>The bodhi (or bo) tree is revered by Buddhists (who regard it as the 
  personification of Buddha (
  <a href="http://members.cruzio.com/~zdino/basicbuddhism.htm">see information on Basic Buddhism</a>))
  and Hindus (who regard it as the tree beneath which 
  Vishnu was born). 
  <li>&quot;Bodhi&quot; means &quot;tree of knowledge.&quot; 
  <li>Grows naturally in India and Nepal. </li></ul>

<p><table class="H3table">
<tr><td class="H3box">
      <h3>Common fig (<em>Ficus carica</em>).</h3>
</td></tr></table>
<p>
<ul>
  <li>Small tree up to 30 feet tall with low, wide, and rounded crown. 
  <li>Palmate leaves, 6&quot; long and nearly as broad, 3-to-5 lobes. 
  <li>Sweet, pulpy, many-seeded dark-brown fruit. </li></ul>

<p><table class="H3table">
<tr><td class="H3box">
      <h3>Sycamore fig (<em>Ficus sycomorus</em>).</h3>
</td></tr></table>
<p>
<ul>
  <li>Small tree up to 40 feet tall with canopy to about 120 feet in diameter. 
  <li>Robust, semi-evergreen. 
  <li>Main trunk divides into many spreading branches close to the ground. 
  <li>Pale-brown thin bark. 
  <li>Sycamore fig was sacred to ancient Egyptians, who revered it as the &quot;Tree 
  of Life.&quot; 
  <li>Grows naturally in the Middle East and through most of Africa. </li></ul>

<p><table class="H3table">
<tr><td class="H3box">
      <h3>Links and References.</h3>
</td></tr></table>
<p>
<ul>
  <li>Some of the above data are abstracted from the beautifully written and 
  gorgeously illustrated <a 
  href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1855857049/forestsofcali-20"><em>Ancient 
  Trees: Trees that Live for a Thousand Years</em></A> by Anna Lewington and 
  Edward Parker. We highly recommend this book. 
<li><a href="index.htm">Home and Index of Articles</a>.
<li><a href="baobab.w31.htm">Baobab</a>, the world's widest tree.
<li><a href="dawn.redwood.intro.ac09.htm">Dawn Redwood (<em>Metasequoia glyptostroboides</em>)</a>
<li><a href="ginkgo.w29.htm">Ginkgo</a>. 
<li><a href="pining.ac22.htm">Pines</a>.
<li><a href="welwitschia.w30.htm"><em>Welwitschia mirabilis</em></a>, the Namibian survivalist tree. 
</li></ul>

<p><hr><p>
<table align="CENTER" cellSpacing=0 cellpadding=3 border=1 frame=box>
<tr><td class="copyright">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=forestsofcali-20">
	<img alt="Support us -- Buy at Amazon" src="img/buy.at.amazon.banner.jpg" border=0></a>
</td></tr></table>
  
<p><a target="_top" href="http://s11.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=s11worldforest">
<img src="http://s11.sitemeter.com/meter.asp?site=s11worldforest" 
width=10 height=10
alt="Site Meter" border=0></a>
 [Thanks for visiting.]
<p>
<table align="CENTER" cellSpacing=0 cellpadding=3 border=1 frame=box>
  <tr><td class="copyright">
  <a href="copyright.htm">Copyright</a>
   &copy; 2001-2012 by J. Zimmerman.
  </td></tr></table>
</body></html>
