120 



DICOTYLEDONS 



There are many other species of Ficiis belonging to India. 

 The most important of the rest is the Cultivated Fig {Ficns 



carica; Kan. Anjura)," whose fruit 

 forms an important part of the 

 food of man and beast in the coun- 

 tries round the Mediterranean 

 Sea, where the tree is grown 

 abundantly, and produces a 

 superior kind of fruit. 



A very important represen- 

 tative of this family is the Jack 

 Tree {Artocarpiis inte- 

 grifolia; Kan. Halasu ; 

 Mai. Pilavu; Tarn. 

 Palacu; Tel. Panasa; 

 San. Skandaphala) . The 

 male catkins, not much 

 larger than a man's 

 thumb and enveloped 

 in bud in large deci- 

 duous sheaths, fall otf 

 after flowering; the 

 female ones closely 

 packed on the outside 

 of a long receptacle, grow to be a huge fruit, to bear which the 

 twigs of the tree would not be strong enough; they grow on the 

 trunks and main branches (tig. 113). The immense fruit, the 

 largest edible fruit in the world, sometimes attains a weight of 

 sixty lbs. The oily seeds are enveloped in fleshy covers which 

 represent the tubular perianths. The thin thread-like growtlis 

 between the single fruits are sterile flowers. The tips of the 

 perianths are hard, and appear on the outer side of the fruit 

 like spines or tubercles. It is a peculiarity of several tropical 

 trees (e. //., the Country V'vj^ tree and the Chocolate tree), that 

 they have their flowers and fruits not at the ends of their twigs, 

 but on their stems. Tliis agrees witli the fact that such trees 

 have also a thin bark tliroiigh wliidi buds can easily break. 



Fig. 112. — 1. Vertical section of the fig of Ficns 



carica. 2. Part of receptacle with pistillate and 



3. staniinate flower. 



