Planet Ficus

Planet Ficus

Home
Notes
Chat
Read the Book
Archive
About
The Stranglers That Save Lives When Cyclones Strike
They are demonized as brutal killers but strangler figs can be lifesavers — of both plants and people.
 • 
Mike Shanahan
4
An Ancient Fig Tree Inspired Hundreds of Interconnected Artworks During The Pandemic
On a quiet day in June 2020, a stranger on a distant shore contacted me and blew my mind.
 • 
Mike Shanahan
2
Planet Ficus Monthly Roundup #1
Lizards as seed dispersers. An 'assassinated' banyan. Rituals of Kenyan elders. Singaporean stamps. Hindu women's prayers. Award-winning authors. A new…
 • 
Mike Shanahan

May 2025

How Living Fig Tree Bridges Provide Lifelines In Extreme Weather
In 1841, a young Scotsman called Henry Yule was exploring the Khasi Hills of north-east India when he came upon something no other European had ever…
 • 
Mike Shanahan
1
Sacred Fig Trees Are Crucial For Biodiversity Conservation
When Tarsh Thekaekara and Shruti Agarwal spotted a lone fig tree in sea of tea bushes in southern India, they knew it had to be special.
 • 
Mike Shanahan
2
Why Strangler Figs Are Associated With Ghosts And Goblins
No trees are home to a more motley mix of supernatural creatures than the strangler figs, whose eerie aerial roots are adept at seizing imaginations in…
 • 
Mike Shanahan
The Fig Trees That Clothed Royalty
An ancient biomaterial making a 21st-century comeback could change millions of lives
 • 
Mike Shanahan
The Story of Fig Trees Is the Story of Us
A quick tour of what makes fig trees so important, as a preview of what kinds of stories I will be sharing at Planet Ficus
 • 
Mike Shanahan
8

April 2025

© 2025 Mike Shanahan
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture