Hello, I am Kharvant Tree

That rough sounding name is a bit of a give-away of one of my properties and uses.

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Are you able to guess it?

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My rough leaves are widely used as a sandpaper for polishing wooden, metal or ivory articles, such as kitchen utensils, gourds, sticks, bows, spear shafts, chairs, boards and bracelets.

 

In some places, children use them as temporary blackboards, writing with chalk or even with a finger dipped in ash.

 

The rough leaves are also used as a natural body scrub in traditional bathing rituals.

 

Livestock sometimes browse my leaves, though sparingly because of their roughness. Farmers notice goats and sheep using the leaves to rub and scratch their coats — almost like a natural itch-reliever.

 

I have a lot of value in local medicinal systems:

My leaf juice is used as a remedy for cough, asthma, or skin problems.

My bark decoctions are used to treat high blood pressure or stomach issues.

The tree is considered “cooling” in many herbal traditions — symbolically used to calm fevers or inflammation.

 

​Like other figs, I often grows near villages and temples. In some African communities, it is associated with protection and fertility — a tree under which elders may hold meetings or settle disputes.

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I am also called forest sandpaper fig, white fig, sandpaper leaf tree and Brahma’s Banyan.

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I am a native of South Asia and tropical Africa.  I am part of the banyan group of figs and grow to about 70 feet tall.

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I often begins life as an epiphyte (a plant that grows on another plant), growing in the branch of another tree.  As I grows older I send down aerial roots which, when they reach the ground quickly form roots and become much thicker and more vigorous.

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My name in other languages:

Kannada: ಅಡವಿ ಅತ್ತಿ adavi atti, ಗರಗತ್ತಿ garagatti • Konkani: खरवंट kharvant • Malayalam: തേരകം theerakam • Marathi: करवत karvat  • Tamil: மரம்தினிஅத்தி maramthinniatti • Telugu: కరక బొద్దు karaka boddu