Ficus benghalensis
| Banyan | |
|---|---|
| The Great Banyan in Howrah, Kolkata | |
| Banyan figs at Indira Gandhi Zoo Park, Visakhapatnam | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Moraceae |
| Genus: | Ficus |
| Subgenus: | F. subg. Urostigma |
| Species: | F. benghalensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Ficus benghalensis L. 1753 | |
| Synonyms | |
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Ficus benghalensis, Ficus indica, or Ficus audrey commonly known as the banyan, banyan fig and Indian banyan, is a tree native to the Indian Subcontinent. Specimens in India are among the largest trees in the world by canopy coverage. It is also known as a "strangler fig" because like many other trees in the genus Ficus it starts out as epiphyte, that is, leaning on another tree that it ends up suffocating.