125. MORACEM. [8. Ficus. 



divaricate subglobose •3--4" rarely -5" diam. when ripe, succulent 

 white or purple. 



Champaran ! Chota Nag-pur, frequent ! Gaya ghats ! Santal Parg. ! Orissa 

 States, Cooper ! Kalahandi ! Ripe recepts have beeji found Oct. -Nov. and March- 

 May, but there may be two species incUided here, viz. : — 



Var. retusa proper, F.B.I. 



Leaves 2 by 1" to 3 by 2"5", orbicular to 1)roadly elHptic, rounded obtuse or 

 ol)tusely acuminate at the apex. Petiole -S-'o ', sometimes thinly pubescent. 

 Stipules lanceolate acuminate. 'i-'5", sometimes pubescent. Recepts ■4-'5", thinly 

 hairy within. Tepals free, oblong or oblauceolate rounded. Ovary long, stipitate 

 above the tepals. 



Chota Nagpnr to Kalahandi ! 



Smooth bark on youngest twigs, cracking and falling oE leaving them rough. 

 Sometimes closely resembling F. comom but habit different. 



Var. nitida, F.B.I. Syn. F. nitida, Thunb. 



Leaves lanceolate oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, tapering both ends, 2" by 

 •8" to 5" by 2-5". Petiole 'S-*-!" and stipules always (?) glabrous. Recepts '25-So"^ 

 sometimes slightly warted. The rest much as in refitsa. Anther broadly oblongs 

 longer than the filament. 



Champaran! Santal Parganas ! Fr. March. 



3. F. elastiea, Boxb. The Indiarubber Tree. 



Epiphytic (but often grown from cuttings and then erect) with large 

 coriaceous oblong or elliptic shining leaves 0-12" long with numerous 

 and very close spreading fine sec. n. and glabrous leaf-scales and 

 stipules 6-8" long (just before unfolding of the new leaf). Recepts 

 sessile, paired at leaf scars, " covered at first by hooded involucres 

 which fall off and leave a basal involucral entire edged cup, when ripe 

 ovate-oblong smooth greenish yellow about -5" long " {F.B.I.) or ovoid 

 and greenish-yellow. 



Indigenous in the Lower Himalaya not far from our area, but not within it. 

 Frequently cultivated for ornament but of very different appearance from the- 

 large indigenous trees, which often start life some 50 ft. above the ground, from 

 which height the atrial roots run down the trunk of the host to the ground ami 

 gradually enclose it. 



The leaves on fruiting branches are often much smaller than the normal and the 

 leaf-scales and stipules of unhealthy trees often fall off when only 3-4" long. The 

 hooded involucral bracts which are connate and circumscissile above the base are- 

 peculiar but not uni(iue ; the cup left after the fall is sometimes toothed. 



This is the source of the true •'india-rubber" which is chiefl.y obtained by 

 tapping the large aerial roots. 



4. F. glaberrima, Blume. 



A small tree (tall in the Himalaya) with rather scanty latex. Leaves 

 oblong glossy chartaceous 5-10" long, shortly acuminate, with rounded 

 or cuneate 3-nerved base, translucent -dotted when fresh ; sec. n. 

 rather distant, 7-10, spreading, raised beneath, looping not far from 

 margin, reticulate between. Petiole -5-1 -5". Recepts '25" diam. 

 globose, pedicelled, orange-coloured when ripe, sometimes verrucose 

 Avhen young, basal bracts 3 caducous. 



Along streams in the Sameshwar Hills ! Fr. Jan. -March. 



Bark tough and stringy, pale on the branchlets which and the yourg leaves 

 beneath are said to be puberulous {King. They are glabrous in my specimens). 

 Stipules glabrous 'b-'7?>" . "Male sepals i, lanceolate, subsessile. G-all ti. sessile- 

 or shortly stoutly pedicelled. perianth 4-cleft. Fem. fl. when ripe with viscid 

 achenes and no perianth," F.B.I. The bracts at the base of the recept appear to^ 



829 



