CH. IV 



ALLIES AND ENEMIES 67 



\Loranthus is propagated through the agency of a 

 Ismail bird (Dicaeum) 1 which, after bursting the outer 

 I envelope with its beak, swallows the pulpy fruit whole 

 I for the sake of the pulp, and voids it on to a branch, 

 I where it attaches itself by the remains of the glutinous 

 pulp sticking to it. This is an example of a noxious 

 bird, and others will thus transport small seeds, such as 

 those of different species of Ficus, and deposit them on 

 branches where the young epiphyte will germinate as 

 described above in this chapter. Deer, antelopes, and 

 elephants take up a large number of edible fruit, and, 

 as regards the former, it is no uncommon sight to come 

 in the forest on heaps of hard kernels which have been 

 rejected after the outer pulp has been eaten. As 

 examples of such may be quoted, for India, Terminalia 

 Belerica, Zizyphus Jujuba, Phyllanihus Emblica, 

 etc., and for Africa, Balanites aegyptiaca, Zizyphus 

 mucronata, Ximenia americana, and Diospyros 

 mespiliformis. The Asiatic elephant is particularly 

 fond of the Terminalia Belerica, Feronia elephantum, 

 and Phyllanthus Emblica, the seeds of which are voided 

 after being deprived of their pulp, while the African 

 elephant has a marked preference for Balanites 

 aegyptiaca. Jackals eat the pulpy fruit of Zizyphus 

 Jujuba, and void the hard kernel enclosing the seed. 

 To a certain extent cattle, and more especially goats 

 and sheep, propagate seed. It is stated that in the 

 Babul [Acacia arabica) forests of the Bombay 

 Presidency the pods of the trees are greedily eaten by 

 the goats, which either reject the seeds after chewing or 

 void them. 



Certain plants provide their fruit with hooked 

 bristles or thorn -like appendages, which get attached to 

 the fur of animals and thus get distributed ; but this is 

 rare in the case of forest trees, although some have 

 provided their edible fruit with spines to prevent them 

 being attacked. 



Several tropical trees, in order to be protected from 



1 Indian Forester, vol. xxv. No. 12. 



