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FICUS, 



FIG TREE. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



THE FIG TREE, in regions more temperate than those around Paris, grows to a very 

 substantial size. In our climate, it's more of a large shrub than a tree. As a rule, it forms a 

 tuft or large bush that arises from only a single stem. 



The shoots are stout and slightly grooved near the ends. They have slightly raised 

 nodes that go around them like seams. Each node bears a leaf & one or two round buds 

 consisting of three or four scales that cover a small fig one to one-&-a-half lignes in size. 

 The buds & the leaves are arranged alternately along the shoot one to four inches apart. 

 The shoot terminates in a large, long, sharp, conical vegetative bud. 



The figs emerge from their coverings from the first nodes of the shoot. They 

 enlarge, & if the end of the summer & the beginning of the autumn are warm, some of 

 them get ripe by September & October. Some fall off without ripening; hoar frosts & cold 

 rain reduce or stop the flow of sap, that even when it's at its most plentiful & in the best 

 of seasons, could be scarcely enough to nourish the large number of figs that appear in 

 the autumn. 



