A banyan, also spelled `banian`, is a fig that begins its life as an epiphyte; that is, a plant that grows on another plant, when its seed germinates in a crack or crevice of a host tree. The seeds are small, and because most banyans grow in woodlands, a seedling that germinates on the ground is unlikely to survive. However, many seeds fall on the branches and stems of other trees and when they germinate, they grow roots down toward the ground and consequently may envelop part of the host tree. For this reason banyans bear the colloquial name `strangler fig`. Older banyan trees are characterized by aerial prop roots that mature into thick, woody trunks, which can become indistinguishable from the primary trunk with age. Old trees can spread laterally by using these prop roots to grow over a wide area. In some species, the prop roots develop over a considerable area that resembles a grove of trees, with every trunk connected directly or indirectly to the primary trunk. In a banyan that envelops its host tree, the mesh of roots growing around the latter eventually applies considerable pressure to and commonly kills it. Such an enveloped, dead tree eventually decomposes, so that the banyan becomes a `columnar tree` with a hollow, central core. In jungles, such hollows are very desirable shelters to many animals.

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