Lahaina Banyan Tree

These trees, in Lahaina Park on Front Street, are actually one tree.  The banyan grows roots down from it's trunk or branches, connecting to the ground and starting a new trunk, often several yards away from the parent trunk.  Perhaps it's kind of like cane tipping propagation employed by Pacific Northwest blackberries.

This banyan tree was brought to Maui from India in 1873 when it was eight feet tall.  Today it is 80 feet tall and has 12 major trunk and lots of minor ones.  It covers nearly the entire city block!  Very shady.