Moraceae. 63 
lulu scattered specimens may be found, several good specimens oc- 
curring on Kalakaua Avenue near the Moana Hotel and Royal Grove. 
Ficus bengalensis L. 
Banyan Tree. 
Plate XXVIII. 
Ficus bengalensis not to be mistaken for Ficus indica, a much 
smaller tree of thirty feet in height, and growing erect, is a large 
tree attaining a height of seventy to one hundred feet, sending down 
roots from its branches and thus expanding horizontally. Like other 
species of Ficus it begins life as an epiphyte, the fruits being carried 
by birds into the branches of other trees and there the seeds germinate, 
later on dealing death to the host. 
The side branches of the Banyan reach often such thickness that 
they finally become auxiliary trunks and the forest-like expansion con- 
tinues sometimes over an acre, sufficient to afford shade for many 
thousand people. 
Enormous specimens exist in India, its native home. One is 
spoken of as having a circumference of tw T o thousand feet and as 
able to give shade to 20,000 people. 
It is reported as one of the greatest enemies to buildings, especially 
in Bengal ; the seeds contained in bird droppings germinate on the 
walls of houses and temples. 
It grows wild in the sub-Himalayan tracts and the lower slopes 
of the Deccan but has been planted in many tropical countries. In 
Honolulu numerous specimens occur, some of the finest in the late 
Mr. Cleghorn's garden at Waikiki and in Kapiolani Park. Others 
may be seen on Beretania Street near Punahou, and elsewhere. 
The name Banyan was first given this tree at a place called 
Gombroon in India where Hindu traders called Banyans had settled 
and had built a pagoda. 
The French traveler, Tavernier, speaks of it as the Banyan's 
tree ; others state that it was a favorite tree of the Banyans or 
Hindu traders. 
It is a favorite roadside tree and should be planted as such along 
country roads where shade is required. 
The Banyan yields an inferior rubber of no commercial value, 
while the red figs are eaten in India by the poorer classes, especially 
in times of famine. The milky juice is employed medicinally by the 
natives of India and is used externally for bruises and as an anodyne 
