More than a month after a wind-fueled inferno torched Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui, the town’s signature 150-year-old Banyan tree is sprouting leaves, proving its vitality.

The Hawaiian Department of Land and Natural Resources posted video footage of the new green growth on Sept. 13 on Vimeo.

In a post on Facebook including a link to the video Sunday, officials said the new growth was a hopeful sign for the tree’s recovery in the aftermath of the Aug. 8 fire.

“Arborists, volunteering their time and expertise to saving the 150-year-old tree, indicate these are positive signs for its long-term recovery,” the Hawaiian DLNR wrote.

Arborists cautioned that leaf growth on the trunk, branches and ground beneath the tree does not necessarily mean full recovery is inevitable.

“Just because the new leaves come out doesn’t mean the tree is going to completely make it — it just means that the tree is moving in the right direction. The tree’s going to be talking to us. And we’re going to listen to the tree,” volunteer arborist Steve Nimz of Tree Solutions Hawaii, who has been working on the Lahaina banyan, told The New York Times.

Recovery was aided in the immediate aftermath of the fire by dousing the tree’s soil with thousands of gallons of water to help underground roots, followed by the application of a nutrient slurry containing worm castings, kelp and sea minerals to foliage and areas around it.

In an Aug. 12 inspection, Mr. Nimz found no major signs of char, cracks or singes to the main trunk or most of the tree’s more than 40 aerial roots. Live tissue was also found just underneath the tree’s bark, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.