Ficus benghalensis
speciesAt a glance
Sources16 archives
Databases and archives Ficus benghalensis's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation20 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility8 802 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI27 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics35 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
Tree of SexTree of Sex Consortiumgenome & karyotype↗
Paleobiology DatabasePBDB consortiumfossil record↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Ficus benghalensis, commonly known as the banyan, banyan fig and Indian banyan, is a tree native to the Indian Subcontinent. Specimens in India are among the largest trees in the world by canopy coverage. It also known as the "strangler fig" because it starts out as epiphyte, that is, leaning on another tree that it ends up suffocating.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology11
Life cycle & reproduction5
Diet & foraging1
Habitat & environment13
Physiology & chemistry9
Compounds documented for Ficus benghalensis across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile5 classes
Documented compounds21 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| (+)-Cycloolivil | present | NPASS | |
| (+)-Pinoresinol | present | NPASS | |
| (-)-(7'S,8S,8'R)-4,4'-dihydroxy-3,3',5,5'-tetramethoxy-7',9-epoxylignan-9'-ol-7-one | present | NPASS | |
| (-)-Olivil | present | NPASS | |
| (2S)-4-{2-[(2S)-2-Carboxypyrrolidin-1-yl]ethen-1-yl}-2,3-dihydropyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid | present | LOTUS | |
| (S)-4-(2-((S)-2-Carboxypyrrolidin-1-yl)vinyl)-2,3-dihydropyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid | present | LOTUS | |
| 2H-1-Benzopyran-2-one, 3-chloro-7-methoxy-4-methyl- | present | LOTUS | |
| 8'-hydroxypinoresinol-4'-O-beta-D-glucoside | present | NPASS | |
| 8-Hydroxypinoresinol | present | NPASS | |
| 8-Hydroxysyringaresinol | present | NPASS |
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Ficus benghalensis has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Ficus benghalensis carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 2614×GoaT · Tree of Sex Database · GoaT · Kew Plant DNA C-values Database · CCDB · ipcn-api-dl +6
2n 282×CCDB · book-indian_vol1 · CCDB · book-fedorov
n 131×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl
diploid1×GoaT · Kew Plant DNA C-values Database
diploid inferred1×PloiDB · genus-scale
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
How it livedPBDB
Record type8 802 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions30 of 67 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Paris, FR | 22 |
| Taipei, TW | 14 |
| Smithfield, AU | 7 |
| Saint Louis, US | 6 |
| Baroda, IN | 6 |
| Kew, GB | 6 |
| Pondicherry, IN | 6 |
| Canberra, AU | 5 |
| Durban, ZA | 5 |
| Riverside, US | 4 |
| Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record | 4 |
| Museo Entomologico de Leonlocation not on record | 4 |
| Istituto Agrario Castelnuovolocation not on record | 4 |
| Brisbane, AU | 4 |
| Auckland, NZ | 3 |
| Sri Ramaswamy Memorial Universitylocation not on record | 3 |
| Dehra Dun, IN | 3 |
| Tampa, US | 3 |
| Mount Annan, AU | 3 |
| BISHlocation not on record | 3 |
| Jardín Botánico de Cartagena "Guillermo Piñeres" (JBC)location not on record | 3 |
| Gujarat Biodiversity Gene Banklocation not on record | 3 |
| Honolulu, US | 3 |
| GMBAlocation not on record | 3 |
| Bronx, US | 3 |
| FFPRIlocation not on record | 2 |
| Taipei, TW | 2 |
| Taipei, TW | 2 |
| Government College University Lahore, Dr. Sultan Ahmad Herbariumlocation not on record | 2 |
| Valparaiso, CL | 2 |
| Instituto para la Investigación y la Preservación del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural del Valle del Cauca - INCIVAlocation not on record | 2 |
| Nishihara, JP | 2 |
| Salvador, BR | 1 |
| Cambridge University Herbariumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Seychelles National Herbariumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Austin, US | 1 |
| UNICAMPlocation not on record | 1 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Jardín Botánico José Celestino Mutis (JBBJCM)location not on record | 1 |
| National Institute of Biological Resourceslocation not on record | 1 |
| University of Stellenboschlocation not on record | 1 |
| Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropicallocation not on record | 1 |
| Conservatoire Botanique National de Mascarinlocation not on record | 1 |
| DOI/NPS, Greenbelt Parklocation not on record | 1 |
| Rotorua, NZ | 1 |
| Henry Brockhouse Collectionlocation not on record | 1 |
| North Carolina Zoological Parklocation not on record | 1 |
| Gump Stationlocation not on record | 1 |
| Vitoria, ES | 1 |
| Hobart, AU | 1 |
| ASUlocation not on record | 1 |
| Post Graduate College Bannulocation not on record | 1 |
| Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Scienceslocation not on record | 1 |
| Alexandria Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| College of the Atlantic, Museumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Qarshi Botanical Gardenlocation not on record | 1 |
| Chapel Hill, US | 1 |
| Burlington, US | 1 |
| Natural History Museum, Tribhuvan Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| TAIElocation not on record | 1 |
| Centre National d'Application des Recherches Pharmaceutiques (CNARP)location not on record | 1 |
| Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeirolocation not on record | 1 |
| Cibinong Science Center, Herbarium Bogorienselocation not on record | 1 |
| Badajoz, ES | 1 |
| Millersville, US | 1 |
| Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH)location not on record | 1 |
| HAWlocation not on record | 1 |
Where the DNA of Ficus benghalensis was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.