JN^EAV' SPECIES OF FICUB
FROM NEW GVl^EA.
GEOllüE KING, 51.15., LL.D., F.R.S., I.L.S.,
Siiperiiiteudeut, Eoyal Botimic Gai'deu,
C A L C U T T A .
Urostigma.
Ficus HESPEiilDm'OEXils, JTin/ in Journ. As. Sue. Bengal IT. pt. ii. -iOI.
A tree; glabrous in all parts except the stipules, which are minutely tomentose
externally; young branches hollow, thick, marked with annular scai's. Leaves coriaceous
alternate, broadly elliptic-oblong, gradually tapering towaa-ds the apex, whicli ends in a
short rather blunt point; the base rounded, edges entire; lateral primary iierTGS very
numerous (40 or 50 paii-s), running nearly at right angles from the thick prominent
midrib and anastomosing about •! in. from the edge ; secondary nervfis and reticulations
minute but distinct; the petiole from A to i as long as the blade; stipules veiy
large, colom-ed, convolute, minutely tomentose ou the outer, smooth on the iuneisurface;
length of blade and of stipules 6 to 9 in. ; petioles 2-5 in. to 4-5 in. Receptacics
large, axillary, solitary, pedunculate, globose, smooth, apparently without basal bracts,
about I'O in. in diam., the walls very thick. Male flowers numerous, pedicellate; antlier
single, sub-sessile, ovoid, its walls thick and cartilaginous, the dehiscence lateral; perianth
gamophyllous with 3 oblong blunt segments. Gall-flowers with hard, crustaceous, 3-sided
ovary, thick short pedicel, and no perianth other than the long, linear, subulate scales
which spring from the walls of the receptacle between the flowers. Fertile female flowers
not seen.
New Guinea,—iT. 0. Forbes, No. 737.
Tho material in my possession is not very abundant, and I have not had the
advantage of seeing Mr. Forbes's field notes. I presume this is a tree. The leaves and
stipules at once recall to mind those of F. elastica. But the leaves of this are lai'ger, and
the stipules are tomentose externally. The receptacles are quite different from those of