Ficus Krishnae trees in Karnataka

Until June 2009 I didn't know a tree could have cup-shaped leaf and that tree was called Krishna's Buttercup. The plant belongs to Ficus family hence it's called Ficus Krishna. I learned about this unique plant from a colleague Manjula Umesh; first it was mentioned in a chat window, followed by a weblink in an email. This is one of the plants which has a divine connection... as per our legends, Baby Krishna was fond of butter, he would eat huge quantities. If denied he would even steal butter. Once Krishna was caught by his mother Yashoda, he tried to hide the butter by rolling up in leaves of this tree. Ever since that day, the leaves have retained the cup-shape. So this is the story behind the Buttercup leaves.

I was a frequent visitor to botanical garden in Karnataka University campus and shared pictures in Life at Dharwad. Aware of my visits to botanical garden, Manjula asked me if I'd seen the Ficus Krishnae there. I'd not seen it since I didn't even know about it. So the search began. On September 5th I found the buttercup tree ...I'd passed by it several times but never saw the leaves closely. Seeing it and touching the cup-leaf for the first time was an elating moment. The very next day I shared the discovery news with Manjula, and then published the blog post Krishna's Butter Cup.

Exploring the botanical garden continued, it was almost a Sunday morning routine, yet there were new discoveries, and the garden had a side for every season, the place never stopped surprising me. A few months later, may be year, I discovered there were two more buttercup trees close to the first one. They are much smaller and hidden by other larger trees. So, university garden had three Ficus Krishnaes.

In March 2012, I happened to see a 7' tall young tree and several smaller saplings in the garden's nursery. This was another great discovery since the botany department was breeding this rare tree. Good, more Ficus Krishnae trees need to be planted and people should learn about it.

At some point, I thought this beauty should be present in other places...

1. Ficus Krishnae of Karnataka University, Dharwad - The first two pictures below shot on Sept 5th. The ground is green after a good rainy season. The leaves are matured, foliage is at its best. 

This tree is situated at the center of the botanical garden, right besides a footpath. May 2013 I learned this tree's history from another colleague Shilpa Vernekar that this Ficus Krishnae was 80 years old, it was planted by founder member of Botany Dept. - Prof. Channaverayya. This tree did not grow here on its own, it was planted here. Ficus Krishnae is an endangered species because it does not adapt to new environments. This was info provided to Shilpa by Prof. Chandrashekar Patil of Applied Genetics Dept (Botany) during bird watching program. Well, this tree today is 90YO. Since its an endangered species, all the more reason for us to grow more Krishnae Ficus.

June 16, 2012. After returning from Lalguli Hanumana Kote, we- Sindhoor, Ravi, Malatesh & I-went to the botanical garden to see our beloved tree. None of them has seen a Ficus Krishnae earlier, it was a discovery for them. At this time of the year, the tree is laden with bright red figs, ripe enough to be eaten. I haven't tasted one yet. Surely birds would be feasting on the sweet figs.

This picture is one of my favorites. Here both sides of buttercup leaf can be seen. Also, ripe figs are seen. Like any other fig, Ficus Krishnae figs have velvety skin and yellow inside.

Ground below the tree was littered with dry cups. Sindhoor picked up a lot of leaves to take home. This reminds me of sending a few leaves to Manjula Umesh which had made her ecstatic. That's the least I could do for the wonderful intro. For me, this tree was a sacred shrine, something I loved to show people. July 2021, I brought my brother, niece and Pushpa here during our 35 km bicycle ride around Dharwad.

Besides exploring the wilderness of botanical garden, I would venture into the nursery, the gates would be unlocked most times. The nursery had some amazing plants- cactus, creepers, succulents, and what not. On a Sunday in March 2012 I happened to notice a very young Ficus Krishnae tree, its stem was slender, barely 2" diameter, about 8" tall. With this the total rose to four. Besides the young tree, there were a few very young saplings in grow-bags. Looks like botany department was taking serious steps to preserve Ficus Krishnae. Good work!

2. Ficus Krishnae of Lalbagh Botanical Garden- After the discovery of Dharwad's Krishnae Ficus I always wondered where else this could be present. I felt Lalbagh and Cubbon Park could be the probable places since both parks are known for extensive collection of plants. During my visits to Bangalore, I would go to Lalbagh or Cubbon Park early mornings, often well before sunrise. On December 27th morning a gathering of primary school friends at Lalbagh had been planned. As usual I came early and went around the park once. Once our group of four assembled, we retraced the path. As I was telling about the divine tree, I happened to notice the Ficus' cup-shaped leaves. What a discovery! Looks like the search was destined to end with my friends.

As you see, this Krishnae Ficus has multiple trunks.. its aerial roots have transformed into trunks. I feel this tree is around 200YO. Dharwad's 90YO Ficus doesn't have aerial roots yet, of course there's human and cattle interference there. Ficus needs lot of open space around it for it grow unhindered. If the ground is stepped upon, aerial roots will find it difficult to penetrate the ground. Also the young roots must be isolated, absolutely no human or animal contact. All this is wishful thinking with the present human population.

Presently people climb and sit on the branches, which is harmful to them. There should be a fence around the tree for its own good.

A stone's throw for the multi-trunk Ficus is another single trunk tree. This tree could be 80 to 100 years old. We picked up a few dry leaves as souvenirs. With this discovery, I was hoping to discovery another tree...

3. Ficus Krishnae of Deva Deva Vana, Bidar- Pushpa and I were on a tour of Basava Kalyana and Bidar from September 2nd and 4th. On the morning of 4th we left Bidar, heading back to Hyderabad. ^ km away from Bidar towards Zaheerabad, we saw the forest department owned "Deva Deva Vana." The name was catchy which made me curious and we decided to check out the park. At the entrance is a board showing the park's layout; within this park are themed gardens such as Rock Garden, Medicinal Nursery, Japanese Garden, Rose Garden, Ashoka Vana, Shiva Panchayath Vana, Brahat Pachavati Vana, Rashi Vana, Phala Pushpa Vana, Navagraha Vana, and Nandana Vana. The team behind this idea and those maintaining the park have done a commendable job. We explored the park and finally on the way out we came to Brahat Pachavati Vana which is a small fenced enclosure. I noticed the cup-shaped leaves as we approached its entrance.I went in and confirmed it was a Krishnae Ficus. We looked around and saw three more, that's four trees. What a pleasant surprise! Honestly, I never expected to see Ficus Krishnae in Bidar district, but its real. Many assume that Bidar is a arid place. That's not right. Bijapur and Kalburgi districts are arid but not Bidar. My opinion about Bidar changed after the 13-day biking trip around Karnataka.

This is the entrance to Brahat Pachavati Vana, a board alerts visitors that this place is only to do meditation. Panchavati is spot with five sacred trees namely Bilwa, Shami (Vanni), Ashwattha, Neem, Audumbara (country fig). The purpose of this garden is to provide a comfortable resting place. Such spots can be found in some temples or monasteries. This reminds of the small garden inside Gavisiddeshwara Mata, Koppal.

At the center of this Pachavati is a Ashwattha tree. Around the Ashwattha are the Ficus trees. Honestly, I did not pay attention to other trees but I do remember seeing a Guddada Nellikayi (Amla tree). Anyway, here are a few pictures of our beloved Krishnae Ficus.

The trees are more or less same height and their trunk girth same. They seem to be young trees, may be 25 to 30 years old.

A slanting Ficus.

The place indeed has a peaceful ambiance. Once could sit here and relax, mentally and physically. Truly the ancient culture of Indian subcontinent is based on the ways of Nature. We need strong political leaders who are connected to our culture. Only such people have the will & ability to protect and nourish our cultural heritage.

4. Ficus Krishnae at Discovery Village near Kanakapura- On the 16th of March 2018, a gathering of friends had been organized at a resort situated between Bengaluru and Kanakapura. I'll quote the lines from the blog post- Having checked in, it was time for welcome drink. The amount of greenery amazed me, I admired the management's attitude towards Nature. I thought of Krishnae Ficus.. I must mention it to the staff here.. Looks like Subbu read my thoughts, he pointed me to the Krishnae Ficus. Wow, what a pleasant surprise! A well grown ficus it was. I fell in love with DV. You can see the thick dark green cup-shaped leaves in the foreground.

So this was another surprise discovery. For some reason I missed taking pictures other than the ones posted below. 

I think this Ficus is quite young, probably planted when this resort was developed. Thanks to the management for their love for Nature and especially for giving this unique touch. This resort truly had a relaxing environment. Late afternoon we went for a cross-country bicycle ride to a small pond and a hillock. Our 'caretaker' Manjunath was a knowledgeable and friendly. A very memorable gathering this was. After check out, each one of us was given a copy of Bhagavat Gita, we could choose between Kannada and English. This is the only resort which said bye with a spiritual touch.

5. Ficus Krishnae trees at Aranya Elakhe Prakruti Vihara Vana, Vani Vilas Sagar- This group was discovered in the last week of Jan 2023 by following a lead from a forest officer, a relative of mine. This group of four trees is situated inside the park developed by Karnataka State Forest Department. However, as of Jan 2023 the park is in a state of neglect, smaller plants have died and, cactus & bigger trees have survived. The park had theme gardens namely  Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Shiva Panchaya Vana, Nandana Vana, Bruhat Panchavati Vana, and Ashoka Vana. The concept of Bruhat Panchavati Vana has been mentioned earlier, in the paras describing Deva Deva Vana of Bidar. The four Krishnae Ficus are part of this garden along with two Bilva Patri and one Banni tree. Below are pictures of the four Ficus trees.

A few days after discovering the Ficus of Maari Kanive, I heard about two more sites: 1. Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanical Garden, Kolkata and 2. Calicut University Botanical Garden. That's it for now until other sites are discovered.

While on the topic of flora, I would like to suggest you to take a look at the post on another rare plant life- Baobab trees in Karnataka and Telangana.

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