Fort Myers Florida — pleasure in simple things

Tag: Fort Myers Florida

what’s a woolly fig?

May

I often say my life runs in themes, and it really does!

If you thought the banyan tree on Tuesday was the end of my fascination with trees, you were wrong! I am leaving you this week with one last tree! Like the banyan, this tree is also located in Fort Myers, Florida.

Look at those roots!! I hope you think it is as cool as I do!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a fabulous weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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under the banyan tree

May

A tree covering three quarters of a mile in area? Amazing!

That is what I thought when I saw my first banyan tree. The first one I saw happened to be in Fort Myers, Florida – home of one of the largest banyan trees in the world! If you have been to Hawaii or Calcutta, you may have seen one even larger!

The banyan tree is a Ficus.

The tree I saw was planted in the 1920’s by Thomas Edison and his colleagues Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone. In 1927, the three men were concerned about America’s dependence on foreign rubber sources for its industrial enterprises. They formed the Edison Botanic Research Corporation (EBRC), and the following year, built a Laboratory in Fort Myers, which became the project’s international headquarters.

The trio were looking for a fast-growing natural source of rubber that could be grown in the United States. The banyan tree was just one of more than 17,000 plant specimens that were tested during the project. (Goldenrod was eventually selected as the most suitable plant.)