248 FLORA VITIENSIS. 
Tana. F. ue, of. Forster, another species from Tana, was not described, but merely named; it may 
be identical with F. Forsteriana, Endl., which has rather large stipules, and in an unnamed scrap collected 
by Forster in Tana (?) this character rather than any other is prominent. F. Indica of Forster (F. Forste- 
riana, Endl. in Ann. Wien. Mus. vol. i. p. 166), which Forster collected in Tonga, the New Hebrides, and 
New Caledonia, must be the species which Barclay found in Tana, New Hebrides, and Sir E. Home and 
Barclay in the Isle of Pines, off New Caledonia. Like F. obliqua, the branches throw out aerial roots. 
Barclay in his schedules calls it a tree fifty feet high; Forster, * arbor excelsa ;" and Sir E. Home has the 
following memorandum with his specimens :—“ A species of Banyan from the Isle of Pines, from the bark of - 
which the natives of Tana and the New Hebrides make their cloth, instead of that of the Paper Mulberry.” 
The species, from Barclay and Home’s specimens and notes, may be thus described: Arborea ; ramis radi- 
cantibus (modo F. Indice) ; foliis alternis petiolatis ovalibus v. ovato-lanceolatis breviter acuminatis inte- 
gerrimis basi acutis v. obtusis triplinerviis, nervis primariis utrinque 5-6; peduneulis aggregatis apice ealy- 
culatis ; receptaculis globosis (Pisi maj. mag.). Leaves less coriaceous than those of F. obliqua, and without 
the prominent márginal vein of that species, 21-31 inches long, 1-1} inch broad. This description agrees 
sufficiently well with that of Forster (foliis lanceolatis integerrimis petiolatis, pedunculis aggregatis, ramis 
radicantibus.—Arbor in Tana, Novarum Hebridum insula, umbrosa, excelsa, propter fructus parvulos et 
insipidos eolebatur. Hi ex eodem puncto seu cicatricula caudicis plures aggregati proveniebant, ita vt 
totus truncus iisdem consitus esset.  Descriptionem hujus speciei ex meis sehedis deperdidi; an eum . 
F. Indica, Linn., merito conjugenda sit etiam dubito). Indeed, I hold F. Forsteriana, Endl., identical with : 
F. prolixa, Forst. Prodr. n. 410; Guill. Zephyr. Tait. p. 33; Sol. Prim. Fl. Ins. Pacif. (ined.), p. 353 (Uro- 
stigma prolicum, Miq. ; nomen vernac. Tahitense, “ Aoa”), which, in the Society Islands (Banks and Solander ! 
Nelson! Forster!), was one of the sacred trees planted about temples. Ellis (* Polynesian Researches,’ 
vol. ii. p. 172,) says, “ The Aoa was not entirely devoted to the nature of that debasing superstition by which 
the people [of the Society Islands] were oppressed. With the thin slender twigs or young branches of this 
tree a strong kind of cloth was made, which they called Ora, or Aoa, and which, on account of its dura- 
bility, was highly esteemed. Garments made with the bark ofa tree constituted the principal article of native 
dress prior to the introduction of foreign cloth. It is manufactured chiefly by females, and was one of their 
most frequent employments. The name for cloth among the Tahitians is ahu. The Sandwich Island word 
tapa is, we believe, never used in this sense, but signifies a part of the human body. In the manufacture 
of their cloth, the natives of the South Sea Islands use a greater variety of materials than their neighbours 
in the northern group; the bark of the different varieties of Wauke, or Paper Mulberry (Broussonetia papy- 
rifera), being the only article used by the latter*; while the former employ not only the bark of the Paper 
Mulberry, which they call Auti, but also that of the Aoa and of the Breadfruit.” i 
F. Webbiana, Seem. (Covellia Webbiana, Miq.), was collected by Forster and Anderson in New Cale- 
donia (Herb. Brit. Mus.), but not described or named by the former. 
F. Carica, Linn., is cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands ( Barelay !). l 
F. Granatum, Forst. Prodr. n. 408, Icon. (ined.) t. 293, et Plant. Excl. n. 8, was collected in Tana 
(Forster !), and New Caledonia (Forster!). Allied to it are two species cultivated in the Sydney Botanie 
Gardens (F. habrophylla, G. Bennett, and F Tanensis, G. Bennett), both introduced from Tana, and one 
of which has, as F. Granatum, edible fruit. Dr. George Bennett, in his well-known ‘ Gatherings of a Natu- 
ralist, speaking of the many valuable plants of the Sydney Gardens, says, p. 341, * There is an elegant 
new species of Fig from Tana, with large, handsome, and luxuriant foliage, which I have named F. kabro- 
phylla. The fruit when ripe is of a purplish-red colour, and excellent for tarts and preserves. Growing 
close to it is another new species (F. Tanensis) from the same island.” As the latter two species had never 
been described, and I did not feel quite sure (having very hastily seen them some years ago in Sydney) 
whether they were different from p Granatum, I asked Dr. G. Bennett to forward specimens of them, 
which, with his usual readiness to assist scientific investigation, he kindly complied with, enclosing, at the 
same time, two other new species (F Bennettii, Seem., and F. Moorei, Seem.), from the Polynesian 
Islands, all four of which are allied to F. Granatum, Forst. 
F. habrophylla, G. Bennett, * Gatherings of a N aturalist, p. 841; arborea; ramulis petiolis recepta- 
eulisque velutino-pubescentibus; foliis alternis obovato-oblongis integerrimis attenuatis basi cordatis 
penninerviis, venis primariis utrinque 15-17, glabris ; receptaculis axillaribus geminis pedunculatis obovato- 
obtusis, pedunculo medio articulato 3-bracteato, bracteis ovatis acutis.—Tana, New Hebrides. Cultivated 
in the Botanic Gardens, Sydney, N. S. Wales. Branchlets stout. Largest leaves from 12-15 inches long, 
and from 6-8 inches broad. Receptacles as large as those of the ordinary garden Fig. — — 
F. Tanensis, G. Bennett, * Gatherings of a Naturalist,’ p. 341; arborea; ramulis petiolisque glabris ; 
foliis alternis petiolatis ovato-oblongis v. obovato-oblongis abrupto-aeuminatis basi cordatis integerrimis 
glabris penninerviis, venis primariis utrinque 8-10 ; receptaculis axillaribus geminis longiuscule peduneu- 
* This is not strictly correct, as the Sandwich Islanders also made cloth of the bark of Pipturus albidus, 
A. Gray. (Vide supra, p. 243.) 
