MYSORE AND OOOBG. 285 



sharply acuminate apex; average blade 2x4 in. 

 Fruit in sessile pairs, crowded at the ends of the 

 branches, globose, smooth, purplish when ripe and 

 the size of a black currant. The greenish-grey 

 bark, glbssy-greeh leaves and tufts of smaller leaves, 

 render this a somewhat striking tree ; and being a 

 quick grower, having no aerial roots, and rarely 

 quite "bare of leaf, it is one of t^e best for roadside 

 planting. "Wood light, but comparatively tough, 

 used for leaves and cart-axles &c. ; when well dried, 

 it affords fairly good fuel, and the inner bark gives a 

 strong fibre. It appears to be a likely tree for the 

 sustenance of the lac-insect. The fruit is much re- 

 lished by birds and Small ' vermin. 



Cultivation.— The same as for the peepul tree. 

 Seedlings grow into finer specimens than are ever 

 obtained from cuttings, and the frequent use of the 

 latter, because they are conveniently at hand, will 

 account in some degree for the contorted limbs so 

 often seen in roadside trees. Plant seedlings at 40 

 feet apart. 



553 Ficus infectoria, Roxb. -£"«». Kari basuri. 

 Fig.— King. Fie. PI 75 to 79 ; Wight Ic. t. 663. 



References.— Dici{. of Boon. Prod, of Ind.; 

 Brand. For. Fl. 414. 

 A deciduous tree of medium height, but wide 

 spreading and well provided with aerial roots. 

 Leaves — in typical, form^ — glabrous, membranous, on 

 rather long slender petioles, oblong-ovate or qrate, 

 apex shortly acuminate, edges subundulate ; avCTage 

 blade 2x5 in. Fruit in sessile pairs, gbbular, 

 whitish flushed with red, eventually black, dotted, 

 the size of a black currant. In his admirable work 

 on Ficus, Dr. King has reduced this most variable 

 species to five typical forms, three of which are 

 strictly Indian, But varying conditions of climate, 

 elevation, and, more than all, the hygrometric 



