Ficus benghalensis

Ficus benghalensis is a huge spreading and deciduous tree (up to 15 meters).
It has characteristic aerial roots descending from the branches to the ground which over the years grow and become trunk-like pillars supporting the spreading and thick branches. Sometimes, with age, these pillars become indistinguishable from the main trunk.
Some specimens in India are among the largest trees in the world by canopy coverage.
Ficus benghalensis starts its life as an epiphyte (a plant that grows on another plant or object). The seeds germinate in the cracks of a host tree or buildings. The mesh of roots growing around the support tree applies considerable pressure that often kills the host tree.

The bark of Ficus benghalenis is greyish-white and smooth (becoming flaky with age). The young shoots are pubescent. The bark exude milky sap when cut.
The aerial roots sending down from the massive horizontal branches become props when reaching the ground and over the years they grow in separate trunks.

The leaves of Ficus benghalensis grow alternately on the stem (spirally arranged), often in clusters at ends of the branches.
The leaves have a pubescent and 2.5-3 cm long petiole.
The leaf is simple, coriaceous and leathery, shiny and dark green coloured above and pale light green coloured below. The upper side of the leaf is glabrous and the lower side is puberulous (especially on the nerves).
The leaf of Ficus benghalensis is 10-15 cm long and 6-9 cm wide. These leaves are ovate, the apex is obtuse to acute, the base is rounded or cordate and the margins are entire.
The venation of the leaf is reticulate with a prominent midrib.
The leaf bud is covered by two large scales that fall when the leaf develops.

The flowers of Ficus benghalensis are enclosed within a fleshy receptacle referred to as the fig. What we think of as a fruit is an inflorescence, a flower-bearing structure called syconium (*).
The syconium of Ficus benghalensis is monoecious, containing both female and male flowers and also gall flowers (hosts of pollinators).

(*) The syconium is an urn-shaped receptacle which contains between 50 to 7000 (depending on the species) highly simplified uniovulate flowers or florets on its inner surface. It is closed off from most organisms by the ostiole, formed by bracts.
Syconia can be monoecious or functionally dioecious : the former contain female flowers with variable style length and few male flowers, and produce seeds and pollen. The latter have male and female forms in different plants : seed figs contain female flowers with long styles and produce seeds; gall figs contain female flowers with short styles and male flowers and produce pollen.
Once pollinated, the florets develop into achenes or drupes, in which the seeds are enclosed by a layer of endocarp. From this perspective, the fig is an enclosure with tens to thousands of fruits within it. (Galil, J., Fig biology, 1977)

The fig, what we referred to as a fruit, is in fact a fleshy enclosure, an infructescence that contains hundreds of tiny fruits (achenes).

The fruits of Ficus benghalensis are globose achenes, brownish and about 2 mm across.

The figs are sessile, in pairs at the axil of the leaves.
They are 1.5-2 cm across, depressed-globose, downy and they are pinkish-red when ripe.

The latex is externally applied for pains and bruises and in rheumatism and lumbago inflammations. It is applied to the soles of the feet when cracked or inflamed.

The gum is used as a remedy for tooth-ache.

An infusion of the bark is supposed to be a powerful tonic and is considered to have specific properties in the treatment of diabetes.

The leaves are applied, heated as a poultice, to abscesses and wounds for promoting suppuration and they are used to treat allergic conditions of the skin and burning sensations.

The tender ends of the hanging roots are given for obstinate vomiting.

Source : Indian Medicinal Plants, Basu & Kirtikar

Due to the large size of the tree's canopy Ficus benghalensis provides useful shade in hot climates.

The twigs and leaves make good fodder for cattle but the tree being sacred, its leaves will be plucked for cattle fodder only in the most dire circumstances.

The prop-roots are (or were) used to make tent and poles, cheap furniture, cart yokes and boxes... (the wood of accessory trunks is stronger than that of the main stem).

The wood of Ficus benghalensis is moderately hard but it is durable under water, so it is used for well curbs.

A paper pulp can be prepared from the wood.

The bark and aerial roots yields fibres used for making ropes.

The latex is used for making glue and yields an inferior rubber. This milky sap is also used for copper oxidation.

Source : Useful Plants of India and Pakistan, Dastur

The figs are eaten as a famine fruit.