The Landings’ Iconic Banyan Trees

What does The Landings have in common with the Ringling Museum, Selby Gardens, and the Thomas Edison Estate in Fort Myers? What is in common are the large and impressive stands of banyan trees!

The first banyan trees (ficus bengalensis) were brought to Hawaii from India in 1873. Thomas Edison planted the first banyan tree in the continental U.S. in Ft. Myers in 1925. A key issue in the post WW I period was an urgent need to secure reliable sources of rubber for the military and auto industry.

In 1925, Edison partnered with Henry Ford, his neighbor, and their friend Harvey Firestone to create a new company, Botanic Research Co., to find a rubber tree or plant that could grow quickly in the continental US and provide a source of natural rubber. Thousands of plants were evaluated but the search was ultimately unsuccessful. One of the plants they evaluated was a banyan which was shipped to Edison from India as a 4 ft. sapling in a butter tub. This tree was planted in the Edison Estate in 1925 and is now the largest banyan in the continental U.S.

The iconic banyan trees at the Ringling were a gift from Harvey Firestone to John and Mable Ringling for the garden of their new Florida Estate in 1927.

The banyan trees at Marie Selby were planted in 1939 as large trees. Where they came from is a mystery but there is speculation that they came from the Edison Estate, which would be a likely source.

The origin of the banyan trees in The Landings is also a mystery. But Bertha Palmer, whose winter home was in Spanish Point, had two sons, Honoré and Potter, who purchased the property now known as The Landings in 1912 and built a large home at the end of Peregrine Point Drive which they named Immokalee, Seminole for “My

By Hans Hawrysz

Home’. After Bertha Palmer’s death, Potter moved to Bertha’s home and Honoré became the owner of the property. Given that the banyans are located close to what was the entrance to Immokalee, there is speculation that they were planted by Grace Palmer, Honoré’s wife. There is some evidence that Grace was friends with Mabel Ringling.

This suggests that Landings banyans are a direct descendant of the first banyan that was planted by Thomas Edison in Ft. Myers! More sleuthing will be required to solidify this hypothesis.

The banyan tree, Ficus Bengalensis, which is native to SE Asia is the national tree of India and is sacred and represents the Divine Creator Brahma. “Banyan” is a Sanskrit word which refers both to the tree and to a merchant because Banyans have historically been used as a shaded marketplace where people can converse, relax, or do business.

It is also believed that Buddha achieved enlightenment while meditating under a banyan tree.

The banyan is one of almost 750 species of fig tree, each of which is pollinated only by its own species of tiny wasps that breed only inside the figs of their partner trees.

The seeds of banyan trees are dispersed by fruit-eating birds. The seeds are small, and most banyans grow in forests, so a plant that germinates from a seed that lands on the ground is very unlikely to survive.

As a result, banyans have adapted so that many of the seeds land on branches and stems of trees. When they germinate, they start life as epiphytes, like orchids and bromeliads, that thrive up in the trees close to the sun. But banyans then grow roots down toward the ground that may envelop all or part of the host tree. This is known as a “strangler” habit, which banyans share with several other tropical Ficus trees. There are many Ficus trees of various species in The Landings.

In the rainforest, Ficus trees oftentimes host more flora and fauna than some entire ecosystems. Banyans are the world’s biggest trees in terms of the area they cover. The biggest one alive is in India covers almost 5 acres and can shelter 20,000 people. Within North America, the banyan tree is present only in Florida.

Be sure to visit this natural wonder in The Landings. As you walk around The Landings, look up at the trees carefully and you will see many young banyans growing in palms and other trees. A good example of a banyan covering a tree is at the corner Peregrine Point Drive and Peregrine Point Lane. As you exit the north gate, you will see a banyan growing out of stump along the fence. There are many, many other instances in The Landings and all are very likely to be descendants of the original colony in Ft. Myers. Banyan fruit