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THE  BANYAN  AND  SOME  OTHER  CLOSELY  ALLIED 
SPECIES . 
One  of  Hawaii's  most  interesting  groups  of  ornamental  trees 
belongs  to  the  great  genus  Ficus.  All  of  the  different  species 
that  have  been  introduced  seem  to  thrive  in  our  soil  and 
climate.  Although  we  probably  have  less  than  a dozen  distinct 
species  of  Ficus  there  are  said  to  be  over  six  hundred,  including 
trees,  shrubs  and  climbers  scattered  throughout  the  warm 
regions  M the  world.  Some  of  them  are  among  the  tallest  and 
most  magnificent  trees  of  the  tropics.  Ur.  Hillebrand  states 
in  his  Flora  that  there  seems  to  be  no  indigenous  members 
of  the  Ficus  in  Hawaii,  but  that  several  species  of  banyan, 
the  fig  and  the  India  rubber  tree  were  introduced  among  the 
early  importations  of  plants. 
The  banyan,  Ficus  Bcnghalcnsis,  is  probably  the  most  inter- 
esting of  all  our  trees  to  travelers.  This  tree,  with  its  great 
expanded  top,  numerous  trunks,  each  having  been  an  aerial 
root,  penetrating  the  ground  from  some  outstretched  branch, 
reaches  a height  of  from  30  to  70  feet.  By  means  of  these 
aerial  roots  the  new  trunks  gradually  take  the  places  of  the 
older  ones  like  so  many  generations  supporting  the  massive 
top  through  countless  ages.  In  African  forests  this  tree  often 
oversteps  and  outlives  the  other  trees  which  may  be  seen  in 
every  stage  of  decay  gradually  disappearing  and  leaving  the 
giant  banyan  the  undisputed  possessor  of  the  situation.  A 
single  banyan  will  produce  a great  forest  in  which  it  is  im- 
possible to  determine  the  original  trunk. 
A specimen  of  this  tree  in  the  Botanical  Gardens  at  Calcutta 
sprang  from  a little  seed  probably  dropped  by  a passing  bird 
into  the  crown  of  a date  palm  more  than  a century  ago. 
The  main  trunk  is  now  about  fifty  feet  in  circumference, 
with  232  additional  trunks,  and  the  great  top  extends  over 
an  area  850  feet  in  circumference,  forming  a dense  evergreen 
canopy  through  which  sunlight  never  penetrates. 
The  famous  banyan  under  which  Alexander’s  army  of  7,000 
men  cam'ped,  now  measures  2,000  feet  in  circumference  and 
has  3,000  trunks. 
The  banyans  in  Hawaii  are  subject  to  the  attacks  of  the 
mealy  bug  in  dry  weather,  which  causes  them  to  look  badly 
and  appear  somewhat  deciduous. 
Ficus  rctusaf,  sometimes  known  as  the  Chinese  banyan,  is 
also  an  interesting  ornamental  shade  tree.  It  is  often  con- 
fused with  the  true  banyan  but  can  easily  be  distinguished 
from  Ficus  Bcnghalcnsis,  as  it  does  not  develop  additional 
trunks  through  the  aerial  roots  extending  downward  from  the 
branches ; the  leaves  are  also  much  smaller,  very  shiny  and 
leathery  in  texture.  Fine  specimens  may  be  seen  at  Thomas 
Square,  Lunalilo  Home  and  one  or  two  of  the  most  mag- 
