The Great Banyan Tree

Do you know Botanical Garden of Kolkata. If you ever visit this place don’t miss the The Great Banyan Tree. It draws more visitors to the garden than its collection of exotic plants from five continents. This tree is over 250 years old and in spread it is the largest known in India perhaps in Asia. There is no clear history of the tree as travel books of the nineteenth century. It was damaged by two great cyclones of 1864 and 1867. When some of its main branches were broken, exposing it to the attack of a hard fungus. With its large number of aerial roots which grow from the branches and run vertically to the ground and look like a forest than an individual tree. Interestingly enough, the tree now lives in perfect vigor without its main trunk, which decayed and had to be removed in 1925. The circumference of the original trunk at 1.7meter from the ground was 15.7 meter. The area occupied by the tree is about 14428.44 sq meters. The present crown of the tree has a circumference of 450 meter and the highest branch rises to 24.5 meter. It has at present 2880 aerial roots reaching down to the ground.
Note: All the data are last revised on 21st May 2005