THE GENUS "FICUS." 1 95 



* Pandanus" or "screw palms." In our own country 

 the alder tree (Alnus Glutinosd) growing in places 

 subject to flood, casts out roots of a somewhat similar 

 kind ; so do some of our cereal grasses, as for instance 

 the wheat plant (Triticum Sativutri) of our farms 

 (especially when the plants have received an injury 

 to the stem); in such cases wheat stalks will some- 

 times cast off root fibres above the ground, which 

 push down so as to anchor the injured stem in the 

 earth, and thus enable it to grow and perfect its 

 seeds like its fellows. But these very minor examples 

 of air roots from the temperate zone hardly deserve 

 to be classed in the same category with the much 

 more remarkable achievements of some of the tropical 

 trees. 



Thus, many of the numerous " Ficus " tribes, which are 

 said to consist " of about one hundred species, varying 

 in size from small leafed creepers, like ivy, to lofty 

 trees of gigantic size " * furnish us with conspicuous 

 instances of this tendency to cast off air roots, of which 

 we may cite the well-known banyan tree of India 

 (Ficus Indica vel Bengalensis] as a leading example, 

 and as such we quote it, as its geographical range 

 extends all over tropical Hindustan. A fine specimen 

 of this wonderful tree, covering a large surface, with 

 numerous stems, may be seen in the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens at Calcutta. Dr. Hooker describes this tree 

 as 80 feet high, and states that it threw an area 300 

 feet in diameter into a dark cool shade, fifty years 

 ago. And nearer home, fair specimens are to be found 

 in the Esbekiyeh Gardens, Cairo. In Australia, the 



* See " The Genus Fzcus" in Smith's Dictionary of Economic 

 Plants, 1882. 



