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Why did Thomas Edison plant a banyan tree sapling at his winter residence in 1926? You guessed it, there was an experiment involved. Native to India, it is now a massive, beloved tree at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, Florida. While this isn’t an “escape from the lab” story, it is sort of a “took over the lab” story! Debbie Hughes, the Horticultural Director, explains what happened. Also, we dig into the mythology of fig trees - specifically “strangler” figs - and their critical ecological and cultural importance with rainforest ecologist and author Mike Shanahan.
Guests
Debbie Hughes
Horticultural Director, Edison & Ford Winter Estates
https://www.edisonfordwinterestates.org/
Mike Shanahan
Author, Gods, Wasps, and Stranglers: The Secret History and Redemptive Future of Fig Trees
https://underthebanyan.blog/about/
Tree Story Short
Sashil Sachdeva
Vadodara, India
Podcast Consultant
Martha Douglas-Osmundson
Music
"Sleepy Head," Alchemorph
Theme Music
"This Old Tree," Diccon Lee, www.deeleetree.com
Artwork
Dahn Hiuni, www.dahnhiuni.com/home
Website
thisoldtree.show
Transcripts available.
Follow on
Facebook or Instagram
This Old Tree podcast is a sponsored project of the New England Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture. To support This Old Tree and New England ISA, click here.
We want to hear about the favorite tree in your life! To submit a ~4 or 5 minute audio story for consideration for an upcoming episode of "Tree Story Shorts" on This Old Tree, record the story on your phone’s voice memo app and email to:
[email protected]
This episode was written in part at LitArts RI, a community organization and co-working space that supports Rhode Island's creators.
litartsri.org
By Doug Still4.9
4949 ratings
Why did Thomas Edison plant a banyan tree sapling at his winter residence in 1926? You guessed it, there was an experiment involved. Native to India, it is now a massive, beloved tree at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, Florida. While this isn’t an “escape from the lab” story, it is sort of a “took over the lab” story! Debbie Hughes, the Horticultural Director, explains what happened. Also, we dig into the mythology of fig trees - specifically “strangler” figs - and their critical ecological and cultural importance with rainforest ecologist and author Mike Shanahan.
Guests
Debbie Hughes
Horticultural Director, Edison & Ford Winter Estates
https://www.edisonfordwinterestates.org/
Mike Shanahan
Author, Gods, Wasps, and Stranglers: The Secret History and Redemptive Future of Fig Trees
https://underthebanyan.blog/about/
Tree Story Short
Sashil Sachdeva
Vadodara, India
Podcast Consultant
Martha Douglas-Osmundson
Music
"Sleepy Head," Alchemorph
Theme Music
"This Old Tree," Diccon Lee, www.deeleetree.com
Artwork
Dahn Hiuni, www.dahnhiuni.com/home
Website
thisoldtree.show
Transcripts available.
Follow on
Facebook or Instagram
This Old Tree podcast is a sponsored project of the New England Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture. To support This Old Tree and New England ISA, click here.
We want to hear about the favorite tree in your life! To submit a ~4 or 5 minute audio story for consideration for an upcoming episode of "Tree Story Shorts" on This Old Tree, record the story on your phone’s voice memo app and email to:
[email protected]
This episode was written in part at LitArts RI, a community organization and co-working space that supports Rhode Island's creators.
litartsri.org

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