RED COTTON TREES. 309 



tioned as adorning the Bush Region of the Indian plains, 

 the Banyan has been already described in our chap- 

 ter on the equatorial zone: and as regards the Red 

 Cotton tree (Bombax Malibaricum] we may state that, 

 according to Balfour, it is very common in the Bombay 

 Presidency, * and there forms a stately tree, often 80 to 

 100 feet in height to the first bough, in favourable 

 situations. When large it has buttress roots, and the 

 trunk is covered with sharp spines. It sheds its 

 leaves in spring, and the leafless branches are then 

 seen covered with a mass of large scarlet flowers, 

 shaped like those of the magnolia. At this time it 

 therefore forms a most striking object in the landscape, 

 and after flowering it produces great pods of a substance 

 like white cotton, which blows all over the surround- 

 ing country like dandelion-down at home; but it is 

 only useful for stuffing cushions and other common 

 purposes. The geographical range of this tree is very 

 great, and it may be regarded as a habitant of almost 

 the whole extent of the tropical zones. And last but not 

 least, the Bo-tree (Ficus Religiose^, already mentioned, 

 which is called the Peepul all over India, resembles a 

 gigantic poplar in habit and foliage; its leaves also 

 rustle in the wind like those of an aspen. It too has 

 a wide geographical range of growth, and like the 

 Red Cotton tree it is seen from Ceylon, all overHin- 

 dostan as far as Peshawar on the Afghan frontier. It 

 therefore stands cold weather perfectly, indeed some 

 of the finest specimens we have seen were growing 

 on the banks of the Ravi, near Lahore. In the gardens 

 of the Taj, at Agra, the visitor may also see this tree 



* Cyclopedia of India, by Surgeon-General Edward Balfour, 3rd 

 edit., 1885, Vol. i, p. 407. 



