For 150 years, an enormous banyan tree has stood at the center of the Maui town of Lahaina. Now, that tree appears to be badly charred by wildfire that has killed at least 36 people. But it's still standing.
Lahaina was once the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, as well as an important whaling village.
The town's iconic banyan tree was planted in 1873, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the town's first Protestant mission. It stood eight feet tall at the time.
Now it's more than 60 feet tall, and with its outstretched trunks and limbs, it spans an entire city block. The tree has more than 46 trunks beyond the original one and creates an umbra over nearly two-thirds of an acre.
