Krishnae Ficus at Lalbagh, Bengaluru

December 27, 2014
This was the third consecutive morning at Lal Bagh. This morning I was to meet up with my VII standard classmates for a walk here and then we had plans for breakfast at NMH canteen. I parked my car at the KH Road entrance and started walking towards West Gate. Instead of going via Glass House I took right and walked down the mango avenue and then left at the junction. As I was walking a tree caught my attention; it wasn't light enough; even after a long look I couldn't recognize the tree. I continued towards our rendezvous. Few minutes later I met Subbu and Shyam; Prashant was yet to arrive. As we stood chatting about our good old days, I suddenly asked Subbu/Shyam if they knew Lalbagh had any Krishnae Ficus trees. Answer was no, they had not seen such a tree. Back of my mind, the thought of Krishna's butter cup remained- such a big garden with so many varieties of plant life and no Krishnae Ficus? There has to be one.. Few minutes later Prashant joined us.

We walked towards Main Gate and then took the same path I'd walked earlier. The tree which had grabbed my attention was visible clearly now and lo it was Krishnae Ficus!! What a surprise! I'd spoken about it few minutes ago and now I was looking at the tree :) I introduce the tree to my friends; took few snaps and made a video; we picked few leaves as souvenirs.

Shyam, Prashant, Subbu

This tree has at least five trunks i.e. the aerial roots have transformed into trunks. This ficus must be atleast 150 years old. The Krishnae Ficus at Dharwad is about 80 years and has only trunk; it covers a small area probably 1⁄10 the area covered by its counterpart at Lal Bagh.

 Branches are almost horizontal and wavy; the tree has a style indeed.

 A look at the leaves. This time of the year leaves are well matured; they are thick and strong. Young leaves are tender both in terms of touch and color.

A group photo from my Moto G2.

A stone's throw away is another Krishnae Ficus, this is a single stem tree. Even this smaller ficus of Lalbagh is larger than the largest of three at Botanical Garden, Karnataka University, Dharwad.

For me it was a happy morning; feels great every time I see a Ficus Krishnae tree. This makes me wonder if there one or two at Cubbon Park. Need to check some time.

12°57′06.5″N 77°35′13.9″E
.........