Iconic Banyan Tree Still Lives in Lahaina

Update: Lahaina's iconic banyan tree sprouts new growth: [credit: BBC]

It has become a symbol of rebirth for the residents of historic, now devastated Lahaina, Maui. According to an expert arborist the tree planted in 1873 still has a living cambrium layer beneath the charred bark. The tree is definitely traumatize by the flames and will require years to recover, but it should revive. The banyan is on a schedule of daily watering from a truck carrying four thousand gallons.[photo credit: Goodfellow Bros.] The ground beneath the landmark will be covered in a layer of compost to provide added nutrients, and it will be aerated to enhance drainage when the tree is watered.

The Indian banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis) is one of the oldest in Hawaii. Planted by a former sheriff to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the first Protestant mission in Lahaina, requested by Queen Keopuolani, widow of the great King Kamehameha. The tree grew to 60ft high and spread its multiple trunks (46) over a quarter mile area making it the largest banyan in the US. The tree is sacred in India, where it is native. Holy men achieved enlightenment beneath its canopy. A member of the fig family, it does have one less admirable characteristic: when young it supports itself on a neighboring tree, which it eventually engulfs and kills, hence the name strangler fig.

The tree has yet to wake up from its coma-like state, but hope and love for the tree is abundant on the island.  A local kumu,or rabbi, has blessed it to aid the banyan's recovery.