94 



SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. 



MORACEiE. 



In all tropical countries Fig-trees^ usually o£ the section Urostigma, are cultivated for shade and 

 ornament j and in India^ Ceylon^ and Burmah Ficus reUgiosa^ sacred to Buddha^ is planted near his 

 temples^ and cherished by his followers. 



The North American species of Ficus are not known to suffer from the attacks of insects or fungal 



diseases. 



Ficus, from ovxov^ the classical name of the Fig-tree, was adopted by Tournef ort ^ and afterward 



by Linnseus. 



native of the eastern Himalayas, Assam, Burmah, and Malaya, is 



(1753) 



Ned, 



probably the most valuable species of the genus, although the rub- 436. — Roxburgh, Fl, Ind. ed. 2, iii. 547. — Kurz, Forest FL Brit. 

 ber it yields is less valuable than that obtained from several species Burmah^ ii. 448, — G. King, Ann, Bot. Gard, Calcutta, i. 55, t. 67, A. 

 of He via of tropical America. It is a noble tree, sometimes a 84, U. ; Hooker/. FL Brit. Ind, v. 513. 



hundred feet high, with enormous trunks and long roots, which 

 form a network on the surface of the ground {Garden and Forest^ 

 ii. 644, f. 143), 



Ficus affinior, GrifBth, NotuL iv. 392, t. 553 (1854). 

 Ficus caudata, Stokes, Bat. Mat, Med. iv. 358 (1812). 

 Urostigma religiosumy Gasparini, Ricerch. Caprif. 82, t. 7, f. 1 



Ficus elastica is planted as a shade and avenue tree in all tropical (1845) 



Hooker Lond. Jour. Bot. vi. 563 : Fl. 



l pt. ii. 333, t. 23. 



countries, and is largely used outside the tropics for the decoration 



of conservatories and living-rooms. In Assam large plantations of 



this tree have been made since 1873 for the production of rubber 



(Mann, Forest Administration in Assam, 1874-75, 28 [^Rep, Forest 



Dept. India, 1875]. — Brandis, Suggestions regarding Forest Admin- c< 



istration in Assam^Sl [Ibid. 1879]. — Strettel, The Ficus Elastica in Asia. It is the most sacred tree of the Buddhists, and is also ven- 



Urostigma affinCy Miquel, Hooker Lond* Jour. Bot. vi. 564 



(1847). 



The Pipal tree is a native of Bengal and central India, and is 



mmonlv nlanted through all the warmer regions of southern 



Burma Proper [Rangoon, 1876]). 



erated by the Hindoos because Vishnu is believed to have been 



The sap is extracted by incisions made about a foot apart through born under the shade of its wide-spreading branches. Silk-worms 

 the bark of the trunk and principal branches up to the top of the are said to flourish on its leaves ; the bark is tonic ; and lac of 

 tree. On exposure to the air the juice separates spontaneously into good quality is obtained from it (Brandis, Forest Ft. Brit. Ind. 415. 



a hard elastic substance and into a fetid whey-like colorless liquid 

 (See Balfour, Encyclopedia of India, ed. 3, i. 1099.) 



Balfour, L c. 1101). 



2 Tournefort, Inst. 662, t. 420. 



CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES. 



Urostigma. Flowers unisexual, united in the same receptacle ; stamen 1 ; anther adnata ; receptacles 

 axillary, inclosed in a caducous cucuUate bract, tribracteate at the base ; leaves alternate, entire, 

 coriaceous, inclosed in the bud in the interpetiolar caducous stipules marking the branches in falling 

 with narrow ring-like scars. 



Receptacles subglobose, sessile, or short-pedunculate ; leaves oblong, usually pointed at both ends . 1. F. aurea. 



Receptacles obovate, long or short-pedunculate ; leaves broadly ovate, cordate 2. F. populnea, 



