Fl L1C ALES 267 



(Darwin, Climbing Plants, p. 185). F. Thwaitesii Miq. and other 

 climbing sp. are heterophyllous, the 1. on the climbing shoots small 

 and different in shape. 



F. Benjainina L. and other sp climb up other trees giving off 

 aerial clasping (negatively heliotropic) roots which surround the 

 trunk. These roots thicken and unite into a network and finally often 

 strangle the 'host' altogether. These sp. often become epiph. by the 

 dying away of their lower portions, but like the Aroids they maintain 

 communication with the ground by long aerial roots. Sometimes 

 they commence as epiphytes and send down aerial roots to the soil. 



The infl. is hollowed out, and consists of a number of fls. inside 

 a pear-shaped common recept., which opens by a narrow mouth at the 

 top. Within the mouth, in most, are the <f fls., while the rest of the 

 cavity is filled with ? fls. (Sachs, Physiol. p. 434). The $ has a P 

 and i or 2 sta. , the ? a smaller P. Infl. as a whole protog. ; mode 

 of pollination extraordinary (cf. Yucca), there being a special insect 

 (Blastophaga, a small wasp) adapted to Ficus fls. The gravid ? 

 enters a fig infl. and lays eggs in the ovary ; the i wasps thus 

 formed fertilise the ? s and these as they emerge are pollinated by 

 the <? fls. and carry the pollen to new figs. For further details and 

 an account of the peculiar process of 'caprification,' see Midler's 

 Pert, of Fls. p. 521, Nat. Pfl., Cunningham on F. Roxbnrghii (rev. 

 in Bot. Centr. 45, p. 344), and papers in Bot. Jahrb. II. 1890, p. 245. 

 Many sp. bear the fls. on old parts of the stem (cauliflory). Fr. 

 multiple, composed of a lot of drupes inside the common fleshy 

 recept. ; that of F. Carica L. is the common fig. 



Lac (shellac, &c.) is produced on several by the punctures of 

 a small hemipterous insect (cf. Butea). Several, esp. F. elastica Roxb., 

 yield caoutchouc. The buttress-roots are used as planks. 



-fid, fidus (Lat.), cleft. 



Fiddle-wood, Citharexylum. 



Fiebrigia K. Fritsch. Gesneriaceae (n). i Bolivia. 



Fiebrigiella Harms. Leguminosae (in. 7). i Bolivia. 



Field botanists, notes for, see Collecting ; -madder, Sherardia. 



Fieldia A. Cunn. Gesneriaceae (i). i Australia. 



Fig, Fiats Carica L. ; Hottentot-, Mesembryanthennini ; Indian-, Opun- 

 tia ; mulberry-, Ficus Sycomorus L. ; -wort, Scrophularia. 



Figuierea Montr. Rubiaceae (inc. sed.). i New Caled. 



Filago L. Compositae (4). 12 Eur., As., Am., N. Afr. ; 3 Brit. 



Filament, the stalk of a stamen. 



Filbert, Corylus. 



Filetia Miq. Acanthaceae (iv. B). 5 Sumatra, Malay Pen. 



Filicales. One of the main divisions of Pteridophyta, char, by well- 

 developed 1. with vigorous growth, often large and much-branched ; 

 stem usu. short in proportion to the 1. area, and not much branched. 

 Sporangia borne on the 1., usu. very numerous. 

 Classification (after Engler) : 



i. FILICALES LEPTOSPORANGIATAE. Sporangia from single 

 superficial cells; prothallus above ground, usu. flattish (see 

 below). 



i. Eufilicineae. 2. Hydropterideae. 



