112 On the Genus Ficus. 



ON THE GENUS FICUS. 



BY JOHN E. JACKSON, 

 Curator of the Museum, Royal Gardens, Kew. 



(With a Tinted Plate.) 



We have before spoken of tropical forest trees, and in a pre- 

 vious paper in the Intellectual Observer, we gave a brief 

 account of some of the most noble of the Australian forms; we 

 also, in that paper, made a passing allusion to the denizens 

 of the oriental forests. We purpose now to conduct our 

 readers into some of these forests, or rather to introduce them 

 to some of their inhabitants. Amonst the finest trees of 

 purely tropical scenery, of course still excepting the palms, 

 the members of the genus Ficus hold a prominent place. This 

 genus belongs to the natural order Moraceee, and is that also 

 to which our common fig belongs, besides Morus itself, which 

 includes the mulberry, Broussonetia, the paper mulberry, 

 Dorstenia, and others. Though the order is small, it is a most 

 important one, both in an economic point of view, and also in 

 botanical interest. The genus Ficus is especially rich in many 

 varied forms of useful products, for besides the fig itself, we have 

 caoutchouc, lac, etc. Whether any of the species are European 

 is a question upon which our best botanical authorities have 

 differed. Lindley says that none of the Morads are European, 

 and that the mulberry and common fig have both been brought 

 from the East; other writers consider the fig to belong origi- 

 nally to Asia Minor, Persia, South-Eastern Europe, and North 

 Africa. We can only say, that if not truly indigenous, the 

 plant has become thoroughly naturalized in all the countries 

 mentioned above. The way in which many of the species 

 adapt themselves to circumstances in their mode of growth is 

 peculiar, and very striking to an observer. In many cases 

 we find them twining, and almost enveloping, colossal palm 

 trunks, though they are capable of forming very thick trunks 

 of their own, which frequently bear an immense spreading 

 crown. The magnificent wild fig-trees of the East, indeed, 

 are always regarded as the true friends of the sun-scorched 

 traveller, affording, as they do, such a cool retreat, and such a 

 complete shelter from the sun. Lindley says the genus Ficus 

 is one of those which travellers describe as most conducing to 

 the peculiarities of a tropical scene ; and, quoting from the 

 "Annals of Natural History," he says, "Mr Hinds points out 

 the complex appearance of the main stem of many species ; 

 their immense horizontal branches, their proportionate lowness, 



