380 SYSTEMATIC BOTANY 



Flowers very small, unisexual, monoecious, in sepa- 

 rate, dense, globose or cylindrical, spikes borne on small 

 short branches from the lower part of the stem. Spike 

 of staminate flowers the size of one's thumb; perianth 

 of two parts only ; stamen one, filament thick, anther 

 two-celled. Spike of ovary flowers more globular ; peri- 

 anth tubular with very small orifice ; ovary straight, 

 one-celled with one pendulous ovule. Fruit a large 

 oblong or globular mass, a multiple fruit, formed of 

 .the thick fleshy receptacle covered by the numerous 

 enlarged flowers, the perianths of which are leathery 

 and form a romboid pattern on the surface, the ovary 

 being also enlarged and fleshy. Seeds, when developed, 

 kidney-shaped and rather large. 



A. INCISA, L. the Bread-fruit tree of the Pacific 

 islands, is occasionally cultivated in India. The leaf, 

 as the name implies, is deeply incised (pinnatifid), and 

 the stipules are very large, as much as six inches or 

 more in length. The interior of the fruit is of the 

 consistency of bread and is eaten roasted. 



Ficus BENGALENSIS, L. the common Banyan, has 

 like ARTOCARPUS, a thick white sticky latex, and 

 stipules which form a hood over the bud, and falling 

 off, leave a ring-like scar right round the branch. 

 The small red berry-like fruit is also like that of 

 ARTOCARPUS, a multiple fruit, composed of many small 

 flowers, but differs in that they are inside not outside 

 the receptacle, which is hollow and has a small hole 

 at the further (distal) end, almost closed by a num- 

 ber of hair-like structures. These are considered to 

 be sterile flowers. The staminate and ovary flowers 

 are very minute ; the former have, like those of 



