DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



165 



Ficus spp. The Fig, etc. 



This genus of Moracew comprises over 150 species, and a vast number of cultivated 

 varieties, including the fig of coininerce known to botanists as Ficua carica. The 

 species of Ficus abound either wild or cultivated throughout the warmer portions of 

 the globe. (See fig. 56, form of leaf of J 7 , religiose/,.) 



There is scarcely a collection of tropical fibers that does uot contain specimens 

 labeled "Ficus," though, unfortunately, it has been so difficult in many instances to 

 trace the botanical species that we do not know them. No less than nine species are 

 named in Bernardin's Catalogue of Fibrous Plants, amoug which are F. laurifolia, 

 Antilles; F. macroplujlla, New South Wales, and F. rubra, Martinique, with the spe- 

 cies yielding the fig, and another tho caoutchouc of Assam, representing species 

 abounding in southern Europe, Africa, the warm parts of India, and the isles of the 

 Southern Ocean, Royle alludes to the genus and says " it is probable that the bark 

 of some of the species, like that of the 

 paper mulberry, may be converted into 

 half-stuff, as the bark of one species is 

 used for paper making in the island of 

 Ceylon,'' The Museum of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture con- 

 tains many examples of fiber and manu- 

 facture from species of Ficus that are 

 unidentified. In Dorca's manuscript list 

 of Peruvian fibers, Ficus dendroneida, the 

 Matapalo (doubtless F. dendrocida), is said 

 to be used by the Indians, who make gar- 

 ments from the bark. He also mentions 

 the Hugicion, F. gigantea, from which is 

 made various kinds of filaments. 



In the Manual Hoepli three species are 

 mentioned, as follows: F. indica, India 

 and New Caledonia, the bark of which is 

 used for cordage; F. prolixa, "a sacred 

 tree among the natives of Oceanica, the 

 fiber from the bark being used for making 

 clothing and textures of all kinds ; highly 

 valued as an industrial plant," commonly 

 called the Sacred Fig ; the bark of F. reli- 

 giose/, is used in New Caledonia for cord- 

 age. The fiber of several Indian species 

 is mentioned in the Die. Ec. Prod. Ind., 

 Vol. Ill, as follows : F. cunia bark used 

 to tie the rafters of native houses, and 

 affords a strong fiber useful for ropes; 

 F. Tiispida, fiber prepared from the bark, in Bombay, used for tying bundles; F. 

 infectoria, fiber used for ropes; in Burma a fiber is extracted from the bark of F. reli- 

 giosa, which was formerly made into paper and used in umbrellas. Liotard also 

 mentions this species as an India paper plant. Ficus (ivapohy)- is included in the 

 list of species of fiber plants of Argentina furnished by Dr. Niederlein. 



In the collection of Brazilian fibers (Phil. Int. Exh., 1876) there was one specimen 

 that closely resembled the fiber of Broussonetia papyrifera, which was obtained from a 

 specimen of " wild fig" found growing on the Doce River, the milk of which is said to 

 contain India rubber. Dr. Nicolan J. Moreira, reporting on fibers from Minas Geraes, 

 in a little brochure of 16 pages, thus writes of the plant producing these specimens : 



The trunk leaves, or stalk leaves (i. e., layers of bast), although they can not be 

 separated into distinct fibers, nevertheless offer an interest not less industrial. By 

 soaking, the leaves come out whole; when introduced between iron cylinders, in 



Eig. 56. — Leaves of Ficus religiosa. 



