MYSORE AND COOBG. 273 



it is not unusual to find specimens with a trunk 

 measurement of 30 feet in circumference and head 

 diameter (through the branches) of 150 feet. There 

 are two such trees in the Botanical Grardens at 

 Bangalore. 



A wide-spreading tree affordiug dense shade and 

 attaining a height of 70 — 100 feet. Bare of leaf in 

 March or beginning of April for 15 days, or longer 

 if the ground is dry and rain holds oif. Leaves 

 deciduous, alternate, petiolate, covered underneath — 

 as also the young shoots and receptacles — by a 

 thick rufous tomentuni, eventually coriaceous, ovate 

 to ovate-elliptic; average blade 5 x 8 in. Fruit 

 in sessile pairs, oblong to ' obovate, the size of a 

 damson plum, or in the variety subrepanda consider- 

 ably larger, orange to orange-red, short-lived, and 

 enormously prolific. Flying foxes devour the ripe 

 fruit in great quantity. 



"Wood soft, and useless for building, but when 

 thoroughly dried it burns fairly well. Weight about 

 35 lb. per. cubic foot. A coarse fibre is obtained from 

 the liber or inner bark, and the coagulated milk-sap 

 is used in native medicine. The Goni is considered a 

 good shade-tree for coffee, while the decayed foliage 

 and fruit afford ample material for manuring the land. 

 Ficus mysorensis var. puhescens, Roth, is indigenous 

 to the strictly Malnad regions of Mysore. It only 

 differs from the specific form in being smaller, and 

 more hairy in all its parts. Nothing has been record- 

 ed of its uses. It maybe the Huh goni of planters. 



Cultivation,— The same as for the banyan. It 

 will be observed that the finest trees are found in 

 depressions where the soil is comparatively deep 

 and moist, as in valleys, at the foot of tank-bunds, 

 and in deep nallahs. As a roadside tree, this species 

 is preferable to the banyan because it grows faster, 

 affords denser shade, and gives off no aerial roots to 



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