The Edison Banyan

This Old Tree

Why did Thomas Edison plant a banyan tree sapling at his winter residence in 1926? You guessed it, there was an experiment involved. Native to India, it is now a massive, beloved tree at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, Florida. While this isn’t an “escape from the lab” story, it is sort of a “took over the lab” story! Debbie Hughes, the Horticultural Director, explains what happened. Also, we dig into the mythology of fig trees - specifically “strangler” figs - and their critical ecological and cultural importance with rainforest ecologist and author Mike Shanahan.
Guests
Debbie Hughes
Horticultural Director, Edison & Ford Winter Estates
https://www.edisonfordwinterestates.org/
Mike Shanahan
Author, Gods, Wasps, and Stranglers: The Secret History and Redemptive Future of Fig Trees
https://underthebanyan.blog/about/
Tree Story Short
Sashil Sachdeva
Vadodara, India
Podcast Consultant
Martha Douglas-Osmundson
Music
"Sleepy Head," Alchemorph

Theme Music
Diccon Lee, www.deeleetree.com
Artwork
Dahn Hiuni, www.dahnhiuni.com/home
Website
thisoldtree.show
Transcripts available.
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This Old Tree podcast is a sponsored project of New England ISA. To support This Old Tree and New England ISA, click here.
We want to hear about the favorite tree in your life! To submit a ~4 or 5 minute audio story for consideration for an upcoming episode of "Tree Story Shorts" on This Old Tree, record the story on your phone’s voice memo app and email to:
[email protected]
This episode was written in part at LitArts RI, a community organization and co-working space that supports Rhode Island's creators.
litartsri.org

บท

1. Pre-Intro (00:00:00)

2. Intro (00:01:08)

3. Debbie Hughes - Description of Edison Banyon Tree (00:02:46)

4. Debbie Hughes - Edison Latex Research (00:09:48)

5. Mike Shanahan - Fig Research Background (00:12:58)

6. Mike Shanahan - strangler figs (00:20:57)

7. Mike Shanahan - fig wasps (00:23:31)

8. Mike Shanahan - Ficus in Indian mythology (00:25:10)

9. Mike Shanahan - Alexander the Great finds banyan trees (00:33:44)

10. Debbie Hughes - future for the Edison Banyan (00:37:38)

11. Conclusion (00:41:07)

12. Tree Story Short - Sushil Sachdeva (00:42:43)