16, Fxcus cucQRBiTiiiA, nov. spec.
d ozduouslc g yellow ban., ultimately glabmas; lea.es coriaceous, obovate-elliptic,
t o l n e ^ f f f -t i r o , base n a nwc d , rounded, obseL;
3 - t o . nerved; prunary lateral nerves S pairs, aud, like the midrib, pale, prominent AUL
ramutely puberalous on the lower surface, the rest of the lower sui-face glabrous the
retrculatrous cbstmet ; upper surface glabrou., except the midrib and primary Lrves, ;hich
cyhndrrc, the_ apex prominently umbonate ; the umbilicus triangular, imperfectly closed
by 3 scales; hispid pilose when young, glabrous when ripe; ba^sal bracts none, but a slio-ht
annular swelimg at the point of insertion on the stem; length 2 in,, breadth 1 in
B o r n e o , ( H e r b . Becc. P. 13. u. 3436,; Celebes,
he leaves of this resemble those of pilosa, Reiuw. and 3iysorcnsis, Heyne, but its
receptacles ^ e like thoseof Wall. It isa remarkably fine and ve^; d isLc' t speci f
FICUS TOMENTOSA, Rozh.; Willd. Spec. Plant, iv. 1136; M . Hort. Bengaknm •
Roxi. Fl. Ind. iii. 550 ; Wight le. 647; Brandis Mr. Flora Miq. in Ann.
Mus. Lugd. Bai. iii. 2S5.— UrosL tomentosmn, obversum and connivens, Miq
in Lond. Jom-n. Bot. vi. 573—i?'. mollis, Vahl Syinb. (1790), i. 82 and
Enmn. PL ii. 192 (esci. syn. W i l l d . ) . « « «m« , Ham. in Linn Trans xv
138; Wall. Cat. 4 4 9 7A,B,C,D '
A large umbrageous tree, throwing out small aerial roots from the branches; the youn.r
shoots, petioles, under surfaces of the leaves and receptacles covered with rusty gray tomentum"
leaves ciwded towards the ends of the branche.s, coriaceous, petiolate, ovate-elHptic or
obovate-elhptic, bluntly apiculate, with entire edges and rounded or sliglitly cordate 5- to
7-nervcd base; primary lateral nerves about 5 paii-s,prominent; upper surface glabrous or
glabrescent, mmutely dotted when di-y; length 2 to 5 in.; petioles -75 to 1 in • stipules
about -3 to '0 m., densely woolly outside, witli broad, scarious, glabrous edges; receptaelei
sessile, in pairs, axiUary, pisiform, tomentose, from -25 in. to "4 in. across, apical scales small
glabrous, basal bracts 3, large, spreading, pubescent, sometimes 3-fid when youno- • mal(J
flowers few, near the mouth of the rece|.tacle, the perianth of 4 lanceolate pieces; stamen I •
gall and fertile female flowers with perianth shorter than tlie ovary, of 4 pieces; gall flower
with smooth ovary aud short style ; fertile female with tuberculate achene and elon'^ate style
Widely distributed in the drier parts of the Gangetic plain and of Central and° Southern
India; also in Ceylon.
The synonymy of this species is rather involved, and I shall therefore here attempt to
disentangle it. The oldest name for this species is undoubtedly that of Valil who in his
Bymbol. Bot. (published in 1790), named it mollis. WiUdenow however, in his observations on
the genus Ficus {Act. Acad. Berol. 1801, 91. t. 5), described aud figui-ed as F mollis Vahl
a plant about the identity of which with Vahl's F mollis he was himself doubtful an,!
winch his figure unmistakeably shows to be F. oppositifolia, Roxb. ( = F. hispida, Linn fil )
UBO STIGMA, 23
Tn iiis edition of Linn. Sp. Plant, iv. 1136, Willdenow, having apparently discovered
his mistake, accepts for tliis species Eoxbm-gh's then unpublished name (Roxburgh's
Fl. Ind. was published as regards Ficus in 1832) tomenlosa, and reduces to tomentosa, Roxb.
F. mnllisi, Vahl SjTub. Miquel [Lond. Juurn. Bot. vi. 573) considers F. pubescevs, Roth [Nov.
PI. Spec. Ind. Or. 387), to be tlie same as this species; but Roth's description appears to me
to fit P. My.torensis, Heyne, much better, especially as to the receptacles, which Roth
says arc red, of the size of a cheny, with an obsolete 5-pai'tite, green, pubescent calyx.
Roth, liowevcr, at p. 390 of the same book also describes F. My&orensis, Heyne, and
one is thus obliged to believe that he described the same plant undei' two names.
The species described as F. asinina by Buch. Ham. in Linn. Trans, xv. 138, and the
specimens so named by his own hand (and which were issued by Wallich as No. 4497A
of his Catalogue) are time F. iommtosa, Roxb. Hamilton's specific name, as he himself
tells us, was given from the fact that the tree is called by the natives of Behar ' Guddlia-
Ice-Bhar,' or Donkey's Banyan—a name which up to the present time is the current
vernacular for F. tomentosa., Roxb.
Urost. obversum and Urost. connivens, Miq. are, as I have satisfied myself by examination
of tlie ty]oe specimens in the Herbaiium at Utrecht, only forms of F. tomentosa., Roxb.
F. ghmosa, Cail. Delile, an African ¡slant, differs from the present species only in
having shortly pedunculate receptacles fui-nished with a few strigose haii-s, and in
liaving smaller basal bracts.
PiATE 18.—Branch of F. tomentosa, Roxb. with ripe receptacles. 1, young receptacle
showing apex; 2, base of the same, showing the sHghtly trifid basal bracts : all of natural size.
(These fruits are not very well di-awn.1
PLATE 81«,—3, male flower ; 4, gall flower; 5, fertile female:
IS, FICUS BRACTFATA, Wall. Cat. 4498 ; Miq. in Lond. Journ. Bot.
Lugd. Bat. iii. 285.
576; Ann. Mns.
A powerful scandeut epiphyte; the young branches, lower surfaces of leaves and of
stipules, the petioles, and the receptacles, densely covered with deciduous reddish-brown
fiocculent tomentum; leaves coriaceous, petiolate, obovate-oblong, v;dth an abrupt, short, blunt
apiculus, eutii-e edges, and cordate, slightly unequal, tnincate, 5-nei'ved base; lateral primary
nei-ves 4 to 6 pairs, prominent beneath; upper sui-face smooth, except the midi-ib, which is
persistently rusty-tomentose; lower surface becoming in adult leaves pubescent or sub-glabrous;
length 7 to 11 in.; petioles -7 to l-7o in.; stipules flaccid, ovate-acuminate, 2 in, by 1 in.,
densely tomentose on the midrib outside; receptacles sessile, crowded at the apices of the
branches in the axils of the undeveloped leaves, globular or tui-binate, slightly tiigonous,
densely tomentose even when ripe, bright orange, "6 in. across; basal bracts 3 or 4, broad,
rnundcd, scarious, glabrous; male flowers scattered over all parts of receptacle, pedicillate,
tlie perianth of 2 or 3 hyaline "pieces; anther 1. the filament very short; gall flowers
with gamophyllous, 3-toothed perianth closely enveloping the smooth ovoid ovary; fertile
female flower with loosely attaclied perianth of 4 lanceolate pieces, the achene elongate,
often sessile ; the interior of the receptacle with numerous lanceolate scales.
Penang, Singapore,— Wallich, King-, Java,—Forbes.
The enormous long-persistent prefoliar stipules (really leaf-scales) borne on the apices
of the branches and smi-ounding the densely tomentose young fruit at once distinguish this
from any other species of the section Vrostigma.