Bihar

BIHAR
State Tree:
Tree: Peepal (Hindi)
Botanical Name: Ficus religiosa L.
Family: Moraceae
Vernacular Names:
Names: Asbattha (Bengali); Bodhi Tree, Holy Tree, Sacred Fig (English);
Piplo (Gujarati); Arali, Ashvattha (Kannada); Sana Khongnang (Manipuri); Pimpal
(Marathi); Aswattha, Jari (Odiya); Ashwattha, Bodhivriksha, Plaksha (Sanskrit); Arasu,
Arasamaram (Tamil); Bodhi-drumamu, Raavi (Telugu).
Etymology: Ficus is the ancient Latin name, for the fig.
Ficus religiosa L. – Habit
Courtesy: Anant Kumar
Description:
escription Deciduous trees, 6 – 15(– 20) m tall; epiphytic when young; bark grey,
smooth or longitudinally fissured. Leaves triangular-ovate or suborbicular with
truncate or cordate base, entire or undulate margins and abruptly tail-like apex, 4 –
17 × 4 – 12 cm, leathery, dark green and shiny above, light green beneath; stipules
deltoid-acuminate, yellowish brown; petioles slender, as long as or longer than leaf
blade, articulate. Figs solitary or in pairs, on leafy branchlets, globose to depressed
globose, 1 – 1.5 cm, green turning red when mature; peduncles up to 10 mm long.
Male, gall, and female flowers within same fig. Male flowers few, near apical pore,
sessile; perianth 2- or 3-lobed; stamen 1; filament short. Gall flowers pedicellate;
perianth 3- or 4-lobed; ovary globose, smooth; style short; stigma enlarged, 2lobed. Female flowers sessile; perianth 4-lobed; ovary globose, smooth; style thin;
stigma narrow.
Ficus religiosa L. – Twig with figs
Close-up view of figs
Courtesy: Anant Kumar
Flowering & Fruiting: March – October.
Range of Distribution:
Distribution: India, Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, Pakistan and Thailand;
introduced and cultivated in Southeast Asia, Middle East, Northern Africa (Egypt,
Libya), USA and elsewhere.
Economic Importance:
Importance: The trunk is home of Lac insects and Silkworms. Wood is
used for packing cases. Leaves and twigs are used as fodder for cattle. It is grown
as ornamental and avenue tree.
Traditional Uses:
Uses: Hindus considered it as a sacred tree and planted it in temple
premises. Fruits are eaten by birds. Wood is used for sacrificial fires by Hindus.
Medicinal Uses:
Uses: Leaves and tender shoots are used as purgative and in skin
diseases. Fruit is laxative, alterative and cooling.
Note:
Note: The plant can be propagated by seed germination or by grafting.
Vinay Ranjan
Central National Herbarium, Botanical Survey of India, Howrah.