13. Wan mmmm, Linn. Mort. Clif. 471. n. i , Spec. Flmt ed 2 ii 1514 •
P t o t rf „ 3 5 ; Anoen. e,l 3, i. 29. JO, Coumd. Horl
A,mt. I. 119. t 62; BMonu M. S,jh. 222; Brmdis For. Mem 412 •
Fm-. Flora Brit. Surm. ii. 440 ; Mi/, in Ann iMjd. Sat iii 285 _
U,-o.t. Ga,p. Eic. 82. t. yiii. 14 to 21; Wight Ic. 1989; Miq.
m Lond. Jom-n. Bot. ri. 572; Dak. and Gibs. Bombay Mora 2 4 0 -
F Ind,ca, Lmn. Amoon., od. 3. i. 27. n. 6 (oxd. 7 and 8, and sj,,. Katm
afa, Rhoodc); Eoxb. FI. Ind. iii. 539; fcaham, Plants Bombay, 189.
n. 135o; Hook. Jomii. Bot. 1841, 284 to 292 t 13 14 ir a •
P h i . Phyt. t. 178. Kboodo i L « 1 . 1 : 7 2 8 H r - :
310; Wall. Cat. 4560
A large spi-sading tree, mth many aerial roots, the young parts softly „„hesn™t 1
conaooous, petiolato, ovate, oyate-rotund to dliptio, ^¡th a bhmt ™ ^
..onndod snb-oordate or slightly narro.ed 3- to ' . » ¡ ^ L e l a t ~
0 pan-s, prommen ; under surface glabrous or minutely pubescent, the r e t i c I t l™i s t S f
upper surface glabrcscerrt; length 4 to 8 in., breadth 2 to 5 in • v o t i o l J t T ^ T
.tout; stip^des -75 to 1 in., coriaceous ; receptacles sessile, in pairs', axillary, globular nubef'
ul„us,rod, andaboutthesr.eofasmall cherxy when ripe, ^ 3 broad, r tnaed, s l i :
nearly glabrous, coriaceous basal bracts : malo iiowers rather , ?
the receptacles, the perianth of 4 rather broad p i r s s 1 n T " " ^
perianth, the style short: fertile females „ t h shorter p'eriauth an<l Songatld '
An enonnous tree, 70 to 100 ft. high, sending down roots from the brancl i , which enter
the gTOund and form trunks, thus extending the gro,rth of the tree indetinilcly Comml lv
planted in all parts of the plains of IncUa; but really wild only in the . u y ^ . m Z . X T : ^
and on the lower slopes of the hill ranges of Southern India. Known to Europeans as the
banyan, and to natives of India under a variety of names.
In this spccies the tendency to send doivn aerial roots from the branches reaches its
highest development. The groat banyan of the Botanic Gai-den, Calcutta, now (1886) about a
hundi-ed years old, has 232 of these aerial roots, all rcaohiiig the ground and forming ancillary
trunks from afew inches to 12 ft. in girth. The main or parent trunk of this remarkable tree
girths 42 ft.; the circumference of its leafy crown is 8o7 ft. It is still growino. vio-orously
and, from its habit of sending do,vn new roots every year, there is no reason why It should
not go on mcreasmg indefinitely, even after the central trunk shall have decayed A still
larger specimen exists at Mhasve, TaMca Jaoli, in the Satara rillah, in the'Bombay
presidency, for the measurements of which I am indebted to Mr. Lee Warner of the
Bombay Civil Service. Mr. Warner describes this tree and its exact situation as follm-s
It g..ows „der tt, Ifll fort of Wj^tgaxh, a W ttee „ ¡bs , „ t of the „„in r„.d «woe» Poo» .nd
a „ d . 0 » . . t o _ ™ t f t . T. . i..t t™ „ . „ n : uTe ; : ; ^ x : : : :
.11 rouud. .ad „ . faot it loots » . g g , pl „ „ , „ ¡t ^ ^ ^ ^ ' ^ S " "
The banyan is an object of veneration amongst Hindoos, and is much planted by them
especially near temples and shrmcs. No good Hindoo will fell a banyan, L b r anc L ar^
occasionally lopped even by high-caste Hindoos for various pm-poscs. By the Mussalmans of
UROSTIGMA. 19
India tho banyan is viewed rather with aversion than with respect. Like many other species
of Fiem^ the banyan usually begins its life as an epiphyte on another tree wdiieh it speedily
strangles. Scedhng banyans are also often found in the crevices of buildings, to which,
unless uprooted, they prove very desti-uetive. The great banyan in the Calcutta garden began
its hfe as an epiphyte on a wild date-tree of which all trace has long disapjjeared.
The name F. Bmuaimsis was first published by Linnieus in the Ilortm Oliforiianus,
which appeared in 1737. The figiu-es which Linnasus there quotes under his description, and
the remark he malies about the aerial roots, prove that under this name he meant to describe
the banyan. Unfortunately Linnaius also gave the name F. Indica to the banyan. In vol. i
(p. 27) of the third edition of the Amocnitaies, ¡lublishcd in 1785, a list is given of tlu-ee
species of Ficus to which Linnajus gave the name of F. Indica. The thii-d of these is probably
American, and does not concern us. The second is identilied with the tjieU of Bheede
{Knrt. Mam. iii. t. 63 ), and is i''. tjida, Eoxb. From a note appended to the notice of the first
of the three, it is quite clear that the banyan is meant. Under this first F. Indica, however,
is quoted Ehecdc's figm-e of Katou aim {Hort. Malab. iii, t, 57), wliioh is really a figure of the
plant subsequently named F. Mgsorsnsis by Hcyne. There is also quoted under this first
F. Indica Enmphius' Yaringa repms {Soyè. Amò. iii. t. 84), and to the plant which it is supjiosed
Enmpliius intended there to portray the name F. Indira, Linn, has by modem wiutcr-s been
ai.bitrarily confined. The name F. Bengaìensis, Linn, is also given in the Armcniiates
(I.e., p. 29), and under it is quoted Eheede's iigm-e of the Perdu {Ilorf. Malah. i. t 28), which
is unmistakeahly a figm.e of the banyan. It is thus quite elear that under the authority of
Linnasus the specific names Bciic/ahnsis and Indica were both given to the banyan, and,
further, that Linnaius confused with the banyan the Katou alou of Eheede, which is F. Mysorcnsis,
Heyne. The namc-f. Ecmjalcims, Linn, being the earliest which can without doubt be
connected with the banyan, and with the banyan alone, must he retained for the present
species.
P l i t e 13.—p. BcngaknA, Linn. Branch, with receptacles nearly ripe. The smaller
figures show ripe reccptacles, all of naturai size.
Plate8P.—1, male flower; 2, gall flower ; 3, fertile female flower ; all
14. Ficos m-soEENSis, Ilcync in Roth Mv. Spec. PI. 390 ; Beddme Fl Syhat ii.
222 ; Kurz For. Flora. Brit. Burm. ii. 440 ; i l i j . in Ann. Has. Lugd. Bat. iii.'
'¿SS.— Urosf. M//sorense, Miq. Lond. Journ. Bot. vi. 574.~F. Indica Linn.
Spec. Plant, ed. 2 (1763), ii. 1514 ; Amoenitates i. 27. n. 6 (partly).—
F. coionimfolia, Vahl Enum. ii. 189 (exel. syn. Eumph.).—^. citrifilia, Willd.
Spec. PI. 1137.—P. sonia, Ham. Trans. Linn. Soc. xv. 137.—Wall Cat
4496 A, B, and C (not Yi).—Katou Aha, Eheede Hort. Majab. iii. t. 57.
A large umbrageous tree, with a few aerial roots, which embrace the stem; the young
branches covered with rusty gray or rufous floeculent tomentum, afterwards nearly glabrous
and dotted; leaves eeriaceous, petiolate, ovate, ovate-elliptio, rarely obovate-elliptic, apex
shortly and abruptly aemninate, edges entire, base rounded, emarginate, or cordate
3-to 5-nerved; lateral pifmary nerves, 10 to 13 pairs, prominent beneath, anastomosino.
submarginally; under sm.face at fii-st flocculent-tomentose, ultimately nearly glabrous"^
upper surface glabrous and minutely dotted ; length 3'5 to 8 inches ; petioles stmt -75 to
1-3 in. long; stipules from -25 to -5 in., broadly tr-iangulai., fioconlcnt-tomentose on the lower