Banyan Tree

Ficus benghalensis · Moraceae · 벵갈고무나무

How to spot it

Widely spreading horizontal branches, aerial roots hanging down, and thick supporting trunks.

Look

Leaves: Leathery leaves, elliptic to ovate, with smooth margins.
Flowers: Tiny male and female flowers sit inside a hollow, pouch-like inflorescence, which fig wasps enter to pollinate.
Fruit: Stalkless, usually in pairs at the leaf axils; the round structures turn red to orange when ripe.
Bark: Trunk bark is smooth and brown.

Where it grows

In Korea: Planted (Hanbat Arboretum)
Native to: Indian subcontinent and the Andaman Islands.
Ecology: It can begin life growing on another tree and then strangle its host. The fig wasp Eupristina masoni pollinates it, and birds use the fruit.

Sources