618 



BOTANY 



PART II 



The inflorescences are hollow, pitcher-shaped structures with a narrow opening. 

 The flowers are borne closely crowded together on the inner surface. The flat, 

 disc-shaped inflorescences of Dorstenia which bear the flowers on the upper surface 

 are in many respects corresponding structures. On the distribution of the 

 fruitlets cf. GOEBEL ( 19 ). On the pollination of the Fig cf. p. 556. The sweet, 

 fleshy portion of the edible Fig is developed from the hollowed axis of the 

 inflorescence together with the perigones of the individual flowers. The small, 

 hard, seed-like bodies are the fruits developed from the ovaries of the small 

 flowers. Some species of Ficus are among the largest trees of tropical forests. 

 The most remarkable is the Banyan (Ficus bengalensis), which occurs in the East 

 Indies. The seeds, carried by fruit-eating birds, germinate on the branches of 



trees, where the plant develops as 

 an epiphyte. The proper form of 

 the tree is only seen, however, 

 after the roots have reached the 

 soil, and it is no longer dependent 

 on the scanty food supply obtain- 

 able in the epiphytic position. The 

 host- plant is gradually strangled, 

 additional roots are sent down to 

 the soil and thicken into pillar- 

 like supports, and ultimately a 

 small wood capable of sheltering 

 an entire village is developed 

 from the single small seedling. 

 The latex of Ficus elastica is ob- 

 tained from the tree by making 

 incisions in the bark, and serves 

 as one source of india-rubber. 

 PIG. 614. Ficus carica. A, Longitudinal section of Castilloa elastica is another im- 

 an inflorescence. B, Fertile flower. C. Gall-flower. * n i 



Z), Male flower. (B-D, enlarged ; D, after KERNER ; P rtant bber ' tree ot Centl ' al 

 , C, after SOLMB-LAUBACH.) OFFICIAL. America. The gigantic inflores- 



cences of species of Artocarpus 



when in fruit are eaten raw or cooked and form the Bread-fruit of the tropics. 

 OFFICIAL. The fruits of Ficus carica. 



Family 3. Cannabinaceae. Humulus lupulus, the Hop, is a native of central 

 Europe ; it has a perennial rhizome, which annually produces a crop of twining 

 shoots (Fig. 615). The stem and opposite leaves bear coarse hairs, and the former 

 bears hooked prickles which prevent it slipping down the support. The male 

 flowers of this dioecious plant are pentamerous, with straight stamens and grouped 

 in dichasia the central branches of which are capable of further growth. The 

 branches of the female inflorescence are catkin-like, the scales being formed of 

 the pairs of stipules belonging to bracts, the laminae of which are suppressed. 

 The axillary shoot of the bract is also suppressed, but each stipule has two flowers 

 in its axil ; each flower is enclosed by its own bract. These bracts project beyond 

 the stipules when the inflorescence is mature, and give the latter its cone-like 

 appearance. Upon them are developed the glandular hairs on account of which 

 the Hop is cultivated. 



Oannabis sativa, Indian Hemp, is an annual herb with palmately divided, hairy 

 leaves, which are opposite below and alternate in the upper portion of the shoot. 

 The female inflorescence resembles that of the Hop, but the central shoot, which 



