ig6 



THE BANYAN TREE. 



streets and public gardens of Sydney and other towns 

 exhibit numerous examples of this class of tree no- 

 tably of the Ficus Macrophylla, or Moreton Bay 

 Fig, and other varieties of the genus indigenous to 

 Queensland,* which already form large and shady 

 avenues. 



The Banyan tree, a perfect prodigy among the 

 productions of the vegetable kingdom, is a native of 

 the East Indies, where it grows to a vast size, branching 

 to a great height, and throwing out these air roots 

 from every limb, which gradually root themselves all 

 round the parent stem, till a regular forest of trunks 

 is formed, which if not interfered with, in the course 

 of years form an impenetrable thicket through which 

 a man cannot force his way, except where vacancies 

 occur. They form, in fact, a regular fortification, 

 which if directed by human skill and culture, might 

 be made to assume any shape that might be desired, 

 and be so arranged as to be completely impervious 

 to attacks from without, but we are not a\vare that 

 military engineers have ever availed themselves of its 

 assistance in this way ; though there seems no apparent 

 reason why these growths of the banyan should not 

 continue to extend, so long as the earth furnishes her 

 sustenance. 



There are many celebrated trees of this kind in 



* The Australian varieties greatly resemble the Ficus Elastica of 

 India, except in the colour of their young foliage, that of the Indian 

 tree being of a delicate pinkish shade, while the Australian varieties (of 

 which there are several) are generally brown, or of a somewhat brownish 

 copper tint. All of these Australian figs, however, throw out air roots 

 resembling those of" the Indian Banyan (F. Indica] when in luxuriant 

 growth. At Adelaide, however, we observed that these air roots were 

 rare probably because the atmosphere there is too dry and too cold 

 in winter to suit these trees perfectly. 



