Trees in Gulmohar Park - Peepal






        PEEPAL




Scientific Name - Ficus religiosa

Common Name - Peepal , Bo tree

Family Name - Moraceae ( Fig Family )

Bark - 
  • Yellowish or pale brownish grey in color 
  • When young it is mostly smooth with faint patterns 
  •  Bark becomes rough and scaly with age 
  •  Inner Bark is deep pink 
  •  Releases a milky latex when injured




Leaf - 

  •  Nearly  triangular with a heart shaped base 
  •  Leaves have a long thin tail or drip tail
  •  The edge of leaves is wavy 
  •  Some leaves can 30 cm long however most are 14 cm 
  •  The leaf is smooth and hairless 
  •   Dark and glossy on the top and paler below 
  •   Leaves have prominent yellow veins
  •   Leaf stalks are very long 



Fig - 

  •  ( Figs are hollow containers that contain flowers which then develop into the fruit inside the fig )
  • Growing in pairs from the leaf axils 
  • Peepal figs are small in size only 1 -1.5 cm in diameter .
  • They are green at first and then red, then deep purple and almost black when ripe 
  • They are slightly squashed on one side .
  • Immature figs are sometimes spotty 



 Origin - Unknown 

Range -  Spread from Pakistan to India and then to South China and South East India 

Growing Condition - 

  •  Grows in hot  moist and dry forests 
  •  It is an epiphytic strangler 
  •  It avoids heavy , poorly drained soils but is otherwise not fussy . 
  •  Trees are extremely long lived some over two millennia old .
  •  
Uses - 

  • Juice of bark is used as a mouthwash for curing toothache and weak gums 
  •  Figs are used as laxatives and a remedy for asthma 
  •  Hiccups were said to be cured by drinking water in which a burnt peepal bark has been steeped .

Legend -  It is said that in the first  Deva-Asura war the Asuras defeated the Devas forcing Lord Vishnu to hide under a Peepal tree . 

Location in Gulmohar Park -

  •  A peepal tree in the park outside the club
  •  A large tree in park behind D block park 

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