Cuban Laurel - Banyan - Ficus Retusa - Strangler Fig
spearThe Cuban Laurel or Banyan tree is also referred to as the strangler fig. In Cuban Christian mythology it is called the Judas tree because it often subsumes its host to survive. In Afro-Cuban Culture and in India the Banyan is seen as a life affirming tree for its expansivness and provision of life for various species. A Banyan tree is an epiphyte, whose life generates from seeds being dropped into a host tree to germinate and grow. In most cases this results in the host suffocating and a hollow space being created in the center of the Banyan. It is in this hollow space where creatures such as bats and snakes can take up residence. However there are also occasions when the seeds drop into stronger host trees and the encircling structure of the Banyan has created a scaffolding that has protected the host tree from damage in hurricanes and cyclones.
My interest in the Cuban Laurel is also visual. Unlike the largely vertical trees I am more familiar with, the Banyan loops and twists. The only local plant it reminds me of is wysteria- and it's not a very close comparison. Wysteria has a consistently textured bark and is essentially a vine spreading from a central root. The Banyan is a great tree with many spreading roots, massive in girth, gravity defying and sinuous, like tendons and muscles.
And then it occurs to me how much I see trees like people. Slow people, watching, often outlasting us.
My interest in the Cuban Laurel is also visual. Unlike the largely vertical trees I am more familiar with, the Banyan loops and twists. The only local plant it reminds me of is wysteria- and it's not a very close comparison. Wysteria has a consistently textured bark and is essentially a vine spreading from a central root. The Banyan is a great tree with many spreading roots, massive in girth, gravity defying and sinuous, like tendons and muscles.
And then it occurs to me how much I see trees like people. Slow people, watching, often outlasting us.