- 
148  URTICACEE. [ Ficus. 
. the main branches by which the circumference of this tree is extended. 
- Young parts softly pubescent. Leaves coriaceous, 4-8 in. long, ovate 
or orbicular-ovate to elliptic, obtuse, entire, glabrescent above, 
glabrous or minutely pubescent beneath ; base rounded or su bcordate 
and with 3-7 nerves, the upper lateral nerves about 5-7 pairs and with 
conspicuous reticulate venation between ; petioles stout 3-2 in. long ; 
-stipules -1 in. long, coriaceous. Receptacles axillary, sessile in. pairs, 
globose, about - in. in diam., puberulous and red when ripe and 
with 3 broad rounded subglabrous coriaceous basal bracts. MALE 
_ flowers many, near the mouth of the receptacle. Sepals 4, lanceolate. 
Stamen 1. Gatt flowers : Perianthasin male. Style short. FERTILE 
flowers : Perianth shorter than in the male. Style elongate. 
Common in the gal forests of Dehra Dun and Saharanpur and in the 
Sub-Himalayah tracts of Rohilkhand and N. Oudh; also largely 
planted by Hindus near villages and in the vicinity of their temples. 
The new leaves appear March to May. Disrris.: Universally dis- 
tributed throughout the plains of India and in Ceylon, either as a 
planted tree or appearing spontaneously as an epiphyte on tombs or 
old buildings, and also on the stems of various kinds of trees, often 
entirely enveloping their stems and eventually killing them. The 
common wild Date-palm is very often attacked, but owing to the 
endogenous growth of their stems they are not usually destroyed. 
The Banyan tree is believed to be quite wild in the Sub-Himalayan 
forests and on the lower slopes of the Deccan Hills, also in damp 
valleys of Chota Nagpur. The foliage affords excellent fodder for 
cattle and elephants. 
3. F. tomentosa, Roxb. ex Willd. ; Hort. Beng. 195; Fl. Ind. 
iti, 550; Brandis For. Fl. 414; Ind. Trees 601; King Sp. Fic. 
92, t. 18; F. B. I. V., 501; Gamble Man. 640; Lrain Beng. Pl. 
980 ; Cocke Fl. Bomb. vi, 646. 
A large shade-giving tree, but often an epiphyte ; bark smooth, greenish- 
white; aerial roots from the branches thin; young parts clothed 
with rusty-grey tomentum. Leaves crowded towards the ends of 
the branches, coriaceous, 2-5 in. long, elliptic-ovate or obovate, 
obtusely acuminate, entire ; upper surface glabrous or nearly so, rusty- 
grey-tomentose beneath ; base rounded or subcordate, 3-7-nerved ; 
main lateral nerves above the basal ones about 5 pairs, prominent 
beneath ; midrib with a broad smooth gland at the base ; petiole 
3.1 in. long, tomentose ; stipules 1-4 in., densely woolly on the back. 
Receptacles in pairs, axillary, sessile, globose, }-} in. in diam., grey- 
tcmentose"; apical scales, small, glabrous; basal bracts 3, large, 
