114 On the Genus Ficus. 



and naturalists. Milton beautifully describes it in the follow- 

 ing passage — 



" Branching so broad and long, that in the ground 

 The bending twigs take root ; and daughters grow 

 About the mother tree ; a pillared shade, 

 High over-arehed, with echoing walks between. 

 There oft the Indian herdsman, shunning heat, 

 Shelters in cool ; and tends J" is pasturing herds 

 At loop-holes cut through thickest shade." 



A.nd Southey, in bis " Curse of Kehama," says — 



"'Twas a fair scene wherein they stood, 

 A green and sunny glade amid the wood, 

 And in the midst an aged bunyan grew. 

 It was a goodly sight to see 

 That venerable tree. 

 For o'er the lawn, irregularly spread, 

 Efty straight columns propped its lofty head ; 

 And many a long depending shoot, 

 Seeking to strike its root, 

 Straight, like a plummet, grew towards the ground. 



Some on the lower boughs, which crossed their way, 

 Fixing their bearded fibres round and round, 

 "With many a ring and wild contortion wound ; 

 Some to the passing wind, at times, with sway 



Of gentle motion swung ; 

 Others of younger growth, unmoved were hung 

 like stone-drops from the cavern's fretted height. 

 Beneath was smooth and fair to sight, 

 "No weeds nor briers deformed the natural floor; 

 And through the leafy cope which bowered it o'er, 

 Came gleams of chequered light. 

 So like a temple did it seem, that there 

 A pious heart's first impulse would be prayer." 



Tbougb habit has taught us to look upon the root of a 

 plant as that part alone which is buried in the earth, we see 

 there are such things as roots being given off from totally 

 different parts. This occurs mostly, if not entirely, in tropical 

 climates, and is effected greatly by the influence of moisture 

 and shade, considering, of course, that the plants have a natural 

 predilection for forming these aerial, adventitious, or secondary 

 roots. The banyan is a good example of a plant producing 

 aerial roots. 



The structure of a true root, when fully developed, is very 

 similar in all respects to a true stem. The epidermis, however, 

 is without stomata, and the bark is always very thick, owing 

 to the moisture it absorbs from the earth. Thus we find that 

 stems of many plants are capable of forming roots, as is in- 

 stanced by the growth of plants from cuttings, or by pegging 

 a bent branch down to the ground. In the case of the banyan, 

 so long as the roots are pendant, they derive their nourishment 

 from the parent trunk, but so soon as they reach the ground, 



