Botanical atlas
Chinese Banyan
Ficus microcarpa
This plant is kept in the atlas for identification and safety, not for use. Read the safety notes below before handling it, and keep it away from children, cats, and food.
Long before it became a fixture of office lobbies and bonsai benches, Ficus microcarpa held a quiet place in the folk medicine of southern China and Southeast Asia, where the bark and aerial roots were simmered into simple decoctions for fevers, coughs, and the aching joints of rheumatism. Coastal villages also valued the tree simply as shelter, its sprawling canopy a natural gathering spot, so its role in daily life grew to include both body and community. Healers in these traditions treated it as a humble, everyday remedy rather than a rare or ceremonial one, something any household near a banyan could turn to.
Safety.
The milky sap of Chinese banyan can irritate skin and eyes and may trigger a reaction in people with a latex or fig allergy. It is also toxic to cats and dogs if chewed, so keep pets away from cut stems and leaves.
Our sister app HerbLens identifies chinese banyan from a photo and keeps its full botanical portrait: growing guide, harvest notes, and look-alike warnings.
View on HerbLensHerbSense shares traditional herbal knowledge for education, not diagnosis or treatment. Herbs can interact with medicines and conditions. Speak with your doctor before acting on anything here, and seek care promptly for anything severe, sudden, or worsening.