Short answers, pulled from the story.
The leaves of Ficus religiosa measure between 10 and 17 centimeters in length with a cordate shape and extended drip tip. The tree grows as a large dry season-deciduous or semi-evergreen specimen reaching heights up to 30 meters and trunk diameters of 3 meters at maturity.
Ficus religiosa originates from most of the Indian subcontinent including Bangladesh Bhutan Nepal Pakistan and India. It extends its native range into Indochina covering the Andaman Islands Thailand Myanmar and Peninsular Malaysia before human activity introduced it to tropical regions worldwide such as Iran Balochistan Florida and Venezuela.
Ficus religiosa acts as an epiphytic bush that penetrates host tree stems from within rather than encircling them like true stranglers. The Global Compendium of Weeds lists this species as an environmental weed while a risk assessment for Hawaii assigned it an invasiveness high risk score of 7 predicting it will become a major pest in suitable climate zones.
Pottery from the Helmand culture at Mundigak site in Kandahar Afghanistan features peepal leaf motifs dating back to the third millennium BCE. These painted goblets represent the earliest known record of Ficus religiosa in human culture and were discovered during excavations of ancient settlements in South Asia.
Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment while meditating underneath a Ficus religiosa tree in present-day Bodh Gaya Bihar India. Hindu scriptures mention the Ashwattha tree extensively including references in the Rig Veda mantra I.164.20 and Hindus perform pradakshina circumambulation around them as worship.
A branch of the original Bodhi Tree was rooted in Anuradhapura Sri Lanka in 288 BCE and this specific tree known as Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi stands more than 2,250 years old today. It holds the distinction of being the oldest living human-planted flowering plant angiosperm in the world.