Ficus religiosa

Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnolipsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Moraceae
Genus: Ficus
Species: F.religiosa
Scientific Name: Ficus religiosa L.

Common names
English : Sacred Fig Tree, Bodhi Tree, Pippala Tree, Peepul Tree, Peepal Tree Or Ashwattha Tree.
Hindi: Aswattha.
Kannada: Aralimara.
Marathi: Pimpal.

Discription

1. Habit and Habitat: Peepal is a large deciduous tree growing up to 30 m high. It has a fluting and straight trunk and a spreading crown. Ficus religiosa has no aerial roots. Peepal occurs naturally in submontane forest, and is grown as an ornamental both within its native range and in places where it has been introduced.
2. Distribution: India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, South-East Asia, South China (Caribbean and North America).
3. Morphology:
   Leaf: : Leaves alternate, spirally arranged and broadly ovate, glossy, coriaceous (leathery), dark green leaves, with unusual tail-like tips, pink when young, stipulate, base-cordate. Petioles is slender and long. Galls on leaves.
   Inflorescence: The flowers of Ficus religiosa 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.
   Flowers: Flowers axillary sessile, unisexual. Male, gall, and female flowers within same fig. MALE FLOWER: few, near apical pore, sessile; calyx 2- or 3-lobed, margin revolute; stamen 1; filament short. GALL FLOWER: pedicellate; calyx 3- or 4-lobed; ovary globose, smooth; style short; stigma enlarged, 2-lobed. FEMALE FLOWER: sessile; calyx 4-lobed, broadly lanceolate; ovary globose, smooth; style thin; stigma narrow.
   Fruit: Fruits are borne axillary in pairs, sometimes single, subglobose, measuring 1-1.5 cm in diameter. Fruits turn red or purple when ripe.
   Flowering and Fruiting time: February-June.
4. Propagation: In places where the pollinator wasp is not present, trees are propagated from cuttings. It can reproduce by cuttings or by seed, but requires a species-specific pollinator wasp in order to produce viable seeds.
5. Importance:
   a. The bark contains tannin and it is occasionally used for tanning and for dyeing The bark of Ficus religiosa is astringent, antiseptic, alterative, laxative, haemostatic, vaginal disinfectant. It is used in diabetes, diarrhoea, leucorrhoea, menorrhagia, nervous disorders and in skin diseases..latex obtained from the plant is used for making varnishes.
6. Location: in front of New Building, Sports Ground.