809 



FICUS. 



FILAGO. 



810 



gigantic dimensions, and of the thick delightful shade cast by their 

 leafy heads. They are especially remarkable for throwing out roots 

 from their branches, which, after they have reached the ground and 

 established themselves there, increase rapidly in diameter, produce 

 other branches, and thus contribute to extend an individual over a 

 considerable space of ground. Frazer speaks thus of what he saw 

 of their habits in the forests at Moreton Bay in Australia : " I 

 observed several species of Fietta upwards of 150 feet high, enclosing 

 immense iron-bark trees, on which originally the seeds of these fig- 

 trees had been deposited by birds. Here they had immediately vege- 

 tated, and thrown out their parasitical and rapacious roots, which 

 adhering close to the bark of the iron-tree had followed the course of 

 its stem downwards to the earth, where, once arrived, their progress 

 of growth is truly astonishing. The roots of the Ficus then increase 

 rapidly in number, envelop the iron-bark, and send out at the same 

 time such gigantic branches that it is not unusual to see the 

 original tree, at a height of 70 or 80 feet, peeping through the fig, as 

 if itself were the parasite on the real intruder. In the singular angles 

 or walls, as they are here termed, which are formed by the roots of 

 these trees, and of which I observed many 16 feet high, there is 

 room enough to dine half-a-dozen persons. The fruit is eagerly 

 sought by Hegent Birds (Sericuliu chrysocephaliu), blue pigeons, and 

 Swamp Pheasants (Cucului Phafianiw), and the spreading and massy 

 boughs support a number of superb parasitical plants." Reinwardt 

 assures us (' Ueber den Charakter der Vegetation auf den Inseln des 

 Indischen Archipela') that he observed on the island of Semao a large 

 wood whose trunks all proceeded from one single stem of a 

 P '. Benjamina, all united with each other by their branches though 

 the trunks were distinct The well-known F. Indica, or Banyan-Tree, 

 is another instance of this peculiar habit. 



The species abound in a milky juice containing caoutchouc, and 

 there is every reason to believe that what of this substance comes 

 from Java is exclusively procured by tapping different species of 

 Ficut. The best known on the continent of India is yielded by 

 F. elantica. 



Although the fruit of F. Carica and some others is eatable, yet the 

 whole genus abounds in an acrid highly dangerous principle, diffused 

 among the milky secretion. This is perceptible even in the common 

 fig, whose milk produces a burning sensation on the tongue and 

 throat ; but when the fruit of that species is ripe, the acridity is 

 destroyed by the chemical elements entering into new combinations. 

 In some species it is so concentrated that they are among the most 

 virulent of poisons. P. toxicaria, a Sumatra species, and F. dtemona, 

 from Tanjore, derive ttteir names from this circumstance, in which 

 many more equally participate. 



Ficut Indica, the Banyan-Tree, is a native of most parts of India, 

 both on the islands and the mainland. Roxburgh states that it is found 

 in its greatest perfection and beauty about the villages on the skirts of 

 the Circar Mountains. The leaves are ovate, heart-shaped, 3-ribbed, 

 and entire; when young, downy on both sides; when old, much 

 smoother ; they are from 5 to 6 inches long, and from 3 to 4 inches 

 broad ; at the top of the leafstalk on the under side is a broad, smooth, 

 greasy-looking gland. The figs when ripe grow in pairs from the axils 

 of the leaves, are downy, and about the size and colour of a middle- 

 sized red cherry. The wood is light, white, porous, and of no value. 

 The Brahmins use the leaves as plates to eat off; birdlime is manufac- 

 tured from the tenacious milky juice. If the seeds drop in the axils 

 of the leaves of the Palmyra-Tree (Boraaut Jlabelliformi*), the roots 

 grow downwards, embracing the trunk in their descent ; by degrees 

 they envelop every part except the top, whence in very old specimens 

 the leaves and head of the Palmyra are seen emerging from the trunk 

 of the Banyan-Tree as if they grew from it. Ths Hindoos regard such 

 cases with reverence, and call them a holy marriage instituted by 

 Providence. The Banyan-Tree, covering with its trunks a sufficient 

 space to shelter a regiment of cavalry, and used as a natural canopy 

 for great public meetings, has been so often described by writers on 

 India as to have become familiar to the reader. The branches spread 

 to a great extent, dropping their roots here and there, which as soon 

 as they reach the ground rapidly increase in size till they become as 

 large as and similar to the parent trunk, by which means the quantity 

 of ground they cover is almost incredible. Roxburgh says that he has 

 seen such trees full 500 yards round the circumference of the branches, 

 and 100 feet high, the principal trunk being more than 25 feet to the 

 tranches, and 8 or 9 fet in diameter. Gum lac is obtained from this 

 tree in abundance. The white glutinous juice is applied to the mouth 

 to relieve tooth-ache ; it is also considered a valuable application to 

 the soles of the feet when cracked and inflamed. The bark is supposed 

 to be a powerful tonic by the Hindoos. An excellent account of such 

 a tree will be found in the ' Oriental Annual ' for 1834 ; and a graphic 

 description of the mode of growth in Himif 's ' Herbarium Amboineuse,' 

 vol. iii. p. 120. See also 'Asiatic Researches," vol. iv. p. 310. It 

 is called Vuta in Sanscrit, Bur or But iu Bengali, Bagha in 

 Cingalese. 



"i elcutica, the Indian Caoutchouc-Tree, is now a common 

 tree in the hothouses of this country. It has large, shining, oval, 

 pointed, thick leaves, small axillary uneatable fruits the size of an 

 olive, and long pink or red terminal buds, composed of the stipules 

 rolled together. This species inhabits the Pundua and the Juntipoor 



Mountains, which bound the province of Silhet on the north, where it 

 grows to the size of a European sycamore, and is called Kasmeer. It 

 is chiefly found in the chasms of rocks and over the declivities of 

 mountains among decomposed rocks and vegetable matter. It pro- 

 duces when wounded a great abundance of milk, which yields about 

 one-third of its weight of caoutchouc. It grows with great rapidity ; 

 a tree is described as being 25 feet high, with the trunk a foot iu 

 diameter wheti only four years old. The juice of this valuable plant 

 is used by the natives of Silhet to smear over the inside of baskets 

 constructed of split rattan, which are thus rendered water-tight. Old 

 trees yield a richer juice than young ones. The milk is extracted by 

 incisions made across the bark down to the wood, at a distance of 

 about a foot from each other, all round the trunk or branch up to the 

 top of the tree, and the higher the more abundant is the fluid said to 

 be. After one operation the tree requires a fortnight's rest, when it 

 may be again repeated. When the juice is exposed to the air it sepa- 

 rates spontaneously into a firm elastic substance, and a fetid whey- 

 coloured liquid. Fifty ounces of pure milky juice taken from the trees 

 in August yielded exactly 15 ounces of cleau-washed caoutchouc. 

 This substance is of the finest quality, and may be obtained in largo 

 quantities. It is perfectly soluble in the essential oil of Cajeput. 

 (Roxb., ' Fl. Ind.,' iii. 545.) 



/'. rdiyiosa, the Pippul-Tree, is a large tree common in every 

 part of India, especially near houses, where it is planted for the sake 

 of its extensive dark grateful shade. It is held in superstitious vene- 

 ration by the Hindoos, because their deity Vishnoo is fabled to have 

 been born under its branches. The leaves are heart-shaped, lung, 

 pointed, wavy at the edge, not unlike those of some poplars ; and as 

 the footstalks are long and slender, the leaves actually tremble in the 

 air like those of the Aspen-Tree (Popidws tremula). Silk-worms prefer 

 the leaves next to those of the Mulberry. The leaves are used for 

 tanning leather by the Arabs, who call the tree Muddh or Vuddh, 

 and also Uadi Zebid. See ' Asiatic Researches,' iv. 309, for further 

 information concerning this. 



/'. Sycomortu, the Sycomore-Fig, ia a large tree found in Egypt, 

 where it is planted extensively by the road-side, near villages, and on 

 the sea-coast, for the sake of the shelter of its very widely-spreading 

 branches. The Arabs call it Djummeiz. Forskiihl states that its 

 head is often forty yards in diameter. The leaves are broadly ovate, 

 repand, or somewhat angular, rather blunt, nearly smooth, heart- 

 shaped at the base. The figs are not produced upon the young 

 branches, but in clustered racemes upon the trunk aud the old limbs. 

 They are sweet and delicate, and eaten by the Egyptians. The timber 

 appears to be of little value, for Forskiihl excludes it from the lists of 

 carpenters' wood, and places it among the trees which are used for 

 firewood. It can hardly therefore have furnished the wood of which 

 mummy-cases were made, as has been supposed. Professor Don, with 

 greater reason, conjectures that they were made from the timber of 

 C'ordia My.ra. When old this tree becomes very gnarled and broken, 

 as is shown iu a plate in Salt's ' Abyssinia/ where it is figured under 

 the name of Daroo-Tree, but it is so bare of foliage as to be hardly a 

 picturesque object. 



F. Carica, the Common Fig, is a small crooked tree or large bush 

 with round green or russet branches, covered with a coarse short 

 down. The leaves are rough on the upper side, coarsely downy 

 beneath, cordate, 3- to 5-lobed or almost entire, coarsely serrated. The 

 fruit is solitary, axillary, more or less pear-shaped, or almost round, 

 succulent, sweet and pleasant to the taste. All the parts abound iu 

 an acrid milky juice, which produces a burning disagreeable sensation 

 in the fauces. 



FIDDLE-FISH. [SQUALID*.] 



FIELDFARE. [TuRDUS.] 



FIG. [Ficus.] 



FIGURE-STONE. [SLATE.] 



FIGWORT. [SCROPHULARIA.] 



FILA'GO, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Composites, tribe Senecionidece, sub-tribe Gnaphaliere, division Hdi- 

 chrytae. The outer florets are female, filiform in several rows, the 

 outermost ones intermixed with the inner scales of the involucre or 

 palcic ; central florets few, hermaphrodite, tubular. Pappus capillary. 

 The receptacle conical with a scaly margin. Involucre sub-conical, 

 imbricated, the scales lanceolate, and longer than the florets. The 

 species of this genus were formerly referred to Gnapltalium. 



F. Clermanica, is a cottony plant with yellow florets, the stem 

 proliferous at the summit from 4 to 12 inches long. It has lanceolate 

 wavy leaves, heads in axillary and terminal globose clusters, the outer 

 iuvolucral scales cuspidate, cottony, with glabrous points. It is a native 

 of Great Britain, as well as the following species : 



F. minima is distinguished by having its stem dichotomously 

 branched, and the outer involucre scales bluntish, cottony, with 

 glabrous points. The florets are yellow with very small heads. Like 

 the other species it is found in dry, sandy, and gravelly places. 



F. Qallica has linear, acute, revolute leaves, the heads conical in 

 axillary terminal clusters, shorter than the leaves. This species ia 

 very rare. 



F. ajiiculata has a cottony stem proliferous at the summit, the 

 leaven all oblong, blunt, apiculate, the heads prominently 6-angled, 

 half-sunk in, tornentutn, forming lateral, axillary, and terminal clusters, 



