For more than a century, Fort Myers has embodied the nickname “City of Palms.” The slogan dates back to the days of Thomas Edison, recalling the inventor’s efforts to plant thousands of palm trees around town (drive down McGregor Boulevard today, and you’ll see the fruits of his labor). But on the grounds of his former winter home, now the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in the heart of the Historic District, one of his trees stands apart from its frond-laden neighbors—a cluster of sweeping limbs and shoots bursting from the earth over three-fourths of an acre, forming the site’s iconic banyan tree.
The largest banyan in the continental United States began as an experiment nearly 100 years ago, a testament to the giant’s resilience. In 1927, Edison established a research lab to find an alternate, domestic source of rubber. The tycoon’s endeavors seemed auspicious, thanks to a promising banyan cutting he obtained from James Hendry, a long-time Fort Myers resident and nursery operator. The sapling, imported from India, entered the ground at 4 feet tall and fewer than 3 inches in diameter. The properties of the milky latex sap in the bark and leaves were favorable for rubber, but the young tree grew too slowly to meet Edison’s needs. Instead, the giant became part of Edison’s estate, which his widow, Mina, deeded to the City of Fort Myers in 1947, a beacon of the Edisons’ legacy.
Photography by Christina Bankson
Edison and Ford banyan tree
The tree came to Fort Myers as an experiment and now stands tall as the largest banyan in the continental United States, sprawling over three-quarters of an acre. During the Edison and Ford Winter Estates Fall Festival, on October 26, the team sets up ropes and harnesses for guests to climb the giant tree.
The historic tree has drawn visitors to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates since the site opened to the public in 1990. Many of the 200,000 annual Estate visitors are surprised to learn this ‘forest’ of trunks is just a single tree. During the annual fall festival, guests can climb the colossal limbs with ropes and a harness to get an up-close look.Also known as strangler figs (most start as seeds on a host tree that gets choked out), banyans get their unique shape from the hundreds of aerial roots that drop from the branches and take root in the soil, becoming new trunks. Over time, the ‘walking trees’ grow into an interconnected forest, creeping laterally indefinitely. Edison’s 74-foot-tall banyan now stands at 393 inches round and stretches more than an acre with its canopy. To keep it unencumbered, the team plans to move the nearby parking lot.
The majestic specimen may seem like it requires an army of caretakers, but its grandeur is matched only by its self-sufficiency and tenacity. Florida’s humidity helps keep the aerial roots satiated, and the year-round sun keeps the tree growing. In storms, the numerous auxiliary trunks and roots keep the central structure (the heart of the tree) safe from the elements and anchored securely in the soil. Even after Category 5 Hurricane Ian stripped the banyan’s branches bare two years ago, the tree stood firm and had leaves growing back one month later.
Today, the banyan is a landmark—as steadfast as the Edison statue sitting among its limbs, drawing an enduring line between the past, present and future.
Photography by Christina Bankson