The familiar ficus
- chet kamat
- Aug 7, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 4
From the moment I discovered the tree on the boulder, I was keen to figure out what species it was. In our current terrace garden, I can identify the scientific classification as well as the local name of each plant - I have found that knowing this makes it easier for me to remember additional details about the plant in terms of its fruiting, flowering and other behaviour.
David E. Meyer, an American cognitive psychologist conducted research on topics related to attention, memory, and cognitive processing. My curiosity about my desire to know the tree species, led me to learn about the psychological phenomenon called semantic priming which Meyer studied. Simply put, familiarity with a name or concept, makes it easier for the human brain to recall associated concepts and information. And thats why it helps when I know the names of the plants and trees !
In order to find the scientific name of the tree one needs to compare its unique characteristics with those of recorded species so as to rule out or identify what it is.
This tree has some distinguishing features:
- oval leaves of about 3-4 inches length
- small round figs – green when young and turning dark brown with age
- position of the figs at the bottom of the leaves in stemless pairs.
- long thin aerial roots
- strong root system able to grow on and around a boulder
Fig trees like this fall in the ficus family - within this there are 850 different species. Based on the distinguishing features above, I was able to conclude that this tree belongs to the species ficus microcarpia or laurel fig, or Indian laurel. The key elements that clinched this was the length of the leaves, the presence of aerial roots, the position and colour of the figs and the strength of root system. No other ficus species met all of these criteria.
Knowing that our tree on the boulder is an Indian laurel tree somehow makes me feel I know it much better than before !
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