What is "banyan"

Banian \Ban"ian\ (b[a^]n"yan or b[a^]n*y[a^]n"; 277), n. [Skr. banij merchant. The tree was so named by the English, because used as a market place by the merchants.]

1. A Hindu trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer.

2. A man's loose gown, like that worn by the Banians.

3. (Bot.) The Indian fig. See Banyan.

   Banian days (Naut.), days in which the sailors have no flesh meat served out to them. This use seems to be borrowed from the Banians or Banya race, who eat no flesh.

"Indian fig tree," 1630s, so called in reference to a tree on the Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf under which the Hindu merchants known as banians had built a pagoda. From Sanskrit vanija "merchant."

n. 1 An Indian trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer. 2 A tropical Indian fig tree, (taxlink Ficus benghalensis species noshow=1), that has many aerial roots. 3 A type of loose gown worn in India.

1. n. East Indian tree that puts out aerial shoots that grow down into the soil forming additional trunks [syn: banyan tree, banian, banian tree, Indian banyan, East Indian fig tree, Ficus bengalensis]

2. a loose fitting jacket; originally worn in India [syn: banian]

A banyan (also banian) is a fig that starts its life as an epiphyte (a plant growing on another plant) when its seeds germinate in the cracks and crevices on a host tree or on buildings and bridges. Banyan often refers specifically to the Indian banyan ( Ficus benghalensis), which is the national tree of the Republic of India, though the term has been generalized to include all figs that share a characteristic life cycle, and systematically to refer to the subgenus Urostigma.

Like other fig species (including the common edible fig Ficus carica), banyans bear multiple fruit in structures called syncarps. The Ficus syncarp supplies shelter and food for fig wasps and in turn, the trees are totally dependent on the fig wasps for pollination.

The seeds of banyans are dispersed by fruit-eating birds. The seeds are small, and most banyans grow in forests, so a plant germinating from a seed that lands on the ground is unlikely to survive. However, many seeds land on branches and stems of trees or on buildings. When those seeds germinate, they send roots down towards the ground, and may envelop part of the host tree or building structure, giving banyans the casual name of " strangler fig". The "strangling" growth habit is found in a number of tropical forest species, particularly of the genus Ficus, that compete for light. Any Ficus species showing this habit may be termed a strangler fig.

The leaves of the banyan tree are large, leathery, glossy green, and elliptical in shape. Like most fig trees, the leaf bud is covered by two large scales. As the leaf develops, the scales fall. Young leaves have an attractive reddish tinge.

Older banyan trees are characterized by their aerial prop roots that grow into thick woody trunks, which can become indistinguishable from the main trunk with age. Old trees can spread out laterally, using these prop roots to cover a wide area. In some species, the effect is for the props to develop into a sort of forest covering a considerable area, every trunk connected directly or indirectly to the central trunk. The topology of this structure of interconnection inspired the name of the hierarchical computer network operating system Banyan VINES.

In a banyan that envelops a support tree, the mesh of roots growing around the support tree eventually applies very considerable pressure and commonly kills the tree. Such an enveloped, dead tree eventually rots away, so the banyan becomes a "columnar tree" with a hollow central core. In jungles, such hollows are particularly desirable shelters to many animals.

Banyan is an art rock/ alternative rock band with heavy jazz, and funk influence, based in Los Angeles, California.

The leader and co-founder is Stephen Perkins, who first played drums for Jane's Addiction (1986–1991, plus later regroupings), and then for Porno for Pyros. He co-founded the group with Emit Bloch. The core members of the band are Nels Cline on guitar, Willie Waldman on trumpet and Mike Watt ( Minutemen) on bass. Mike Watt also sings on some Banyan songs. Both Mike Watt and Nels Cline generally play only West Coast dates and at various times the band has had Rob Wasserman and Daniel Shulman who played with Garbage on bass and Clint Wagner on guitar fill in when they are unavailable. Saxophone players Steve Mackay and Herman Green, guitar player Calvin Newborn, Dave Aron on clarinet, and bass player J. D. Westmoreland have also joined the band during select live shows.

Los Angeles artist Norton Wisdom paints on a wet-erase board while the band plays, and the imagery he creates interprets the music much in the same way that lyrics might. To see the band in more than one performance, you will see some images that recur and some that are new, since the songs are compositions whose structure remains the same while there is also a large amount of improvisation, in the jazz tradition.

The first EP featured Money Mark as keyboardist labeled as the Freeway Keyboardist. The first album was engineered by the Dust Brothers at their studio and produced by Turin and Perkins.

Notable guest appearances on the second album Anytime at All include Flea, John Frusciante (both from the Red Hot Chili Peppers), Martyn LeNoble (Perkins' former bandmate from Porno for Pyros), Rob Wasserman and Buckethead. It was produced by Dave Aron (Producer/Engineer/Mixer of Snoopdogg, Sublime and moe.) and Willie Waldman as the Blunt Brothers.

For their third album Live At Perkins' Palace (named after the fact that it was recorded at Perkins' home studio, not after the live performance venue of the same name), the band reduced itself to a four-piece unit of Perkins, Watt, Cline, and Waldman.

Steve Kimock sat-in with Banyan during their August 26, 2007 performance at the Riverview Music Festival in Chicago, IL.

In liner notes and personal conversations, members of the band cite Igor Stravinsky and Miles Davis as influences.

A banyan (through Portuguese banian and Arabic بنيان, banyān, from the Gujarati વાણિયો, vāṇiyo, meaning "merchant") is a garment worn by men in the 18th century influenced by Persian and Asian clothing.

Banyan is also commonly used in present day Indian English and other countries in the Indian Subcontinent to mean "vest" (" undershirt" in American English).

Also called a morning gown, robe de chambre or nightgown, the banyan was a loose, T-shaped or kimono-like cotton, linen, or silk gown worn at home as a sort of dressing gown or informal coat over the shirt and breeches. The typical banyan was cut en chemise, with the sleeves and body cut as one piece. It was usually paired with a soft, turban-like cap worn in place of the formal periwig. An alternative style of banyan was cut like a coat, fitted, with set-in sleeves, and was closed with buttons and buttonholes.

Banyan is a type of tree.

Banyan may also mean:

• Banyan (album), 1997 debut album by Banyan
• Banyan (band), a musical group based in Los Angeles, California
• Banyan (clothing), a men's dressing gown or informal coat
• Banian, Guinea, alternative spelling
• Banyan, Iran (disambiguation), places in Iran
• Banyan merchants, an expression referring to Indian merchants used widely in many parts of India and countries in the Indian Ocean trade
• Banyan Productions, a Philadelphia-based television production company
• Banyan switch, a complex crossover switch in electronics
• Banyan Systems, the software company that created Banyan VINES
• Banyan VINES, a computer network operating system and accompanying protocols

Banyan is the debut album from Banyan, founded by Stephen Perkins of Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros fame, and David Turin. This record is dedicated to Marc Perkins. "They are compared to a deeply rooted Banyan tree which is ever increasing its hold on earth."