The Great Banyan

The Great Banyan is a banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis) located in Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, Howrah, near Kolkata, India. It was the widest tree in the world^{[citation needed]} in terms of the area of the canopy and is estimated to be about 200 to 250 years old.^[1] It became diseased after it was struck by lightning, so in 1925 the middle of the tree was excised to keep the remainder healthy; this has left it as a clonal colony, rather than a single tree. A 330 metre long road was built around its circumference, but the tree continues to spread beyond it.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Great Banyan