Aerial roots of Asia’s biggest Banyan Tree (“ADYAR AALAMARAM”)

When I was in INDIA in the summer holidays this year, I went to a botanical garden at a place “Adyar”, in the south Indian city of “Chennai”.

In the garden I saw a Banyan tree with Aerial roots spreading for 60,000 square meters. It is 6 times bigger than IST.  

Aerial roots are roots that grow downwards to the ground from the branches of the Banyan tree.  After many years the Aerial roots from the Banyan tree will touch the ground and the roots will go inside the ground. That root will become a baby tree, but all the branches will be connected to the mother tree.   After many years the baby tree will produce its own branches and new aerial roots and so on, to become a huge set of trees.

Here are few pictures.

These trees are called Banyan trees because the word Banyan comes from an Indian word “Banias”, which means Merchants.  Merchants used to meet under the tree to sell things because the Banyan tree would be like an umbrella.  So, the trees are called BANYAN TREES, in Tamil we call as “AALAMARAM”.

There are lots of Banyan trees in INDIA.

Here is how the aerial roots become new trees.