• Specie: Chinese Banyan (ficus microcarpa 榕樹)
• Location: top of Eastern Road (leading to Bonham Road); top of Honiton Road (leading to Babbington Path)

Hong Kong’s hilly terrain and the use of stone walls as retainer barriers to manage water irrigation and prevent erosion makes it a paradise for Chinese Banyans, which as you know, like to grow on walls. The result is many, many trees that have two faces and personalities, like the two-faced banyan on Caine Road. This week, I came across another two, about a 10 minute walk from two-faced. If you walk up to the top of Eastern Street in Western District, you see this lone banyan. It’s a pretty typical banyan in all aspects, except it becomes a completely different tree once you get up to Bonham Road. Similarly, another banyan on the top of Honiton Road as you head towards Babbington Path is all roots on one side and all crown on the other. I think because such walled trees are so plentiful in Hong Kong that most people take them for granted – although walled trees are part of the criteria when it comes to Hong Kong’s tree registrar. As impressive as these two are, they are not listed. But that doesn’t make them any less awesome.

Categories:Chinese Banyan, Street trees, urbantrees, Urbantrees of Hong Kong, Walled treesTags: central and western, Chinese Banyans, Hong Kong trees, Street trees, Urban tree of Hong Kong, Walled trees