The Species of Ficus of the Indo-Malayan Archipelago

Abstract

THE first part of this excellent illustrated monograph of a very difficult genus was reviewed in NATURE, vol. xxxvi. p. 242, where some details are given of the classification adopted by Dr. King. The present part completes the volume; but it is intimated that a supplement is to follow, dealing with the new species recently collected by Mr. H. O. Forbes in New Guinea, and containing an account of the fertilization of Ficus Roxburghii, by Dr. D. D. Cunningham. A photograph of a tree in fruit of this remarkable species forms the frontispiece to the volume. It is one of those species which bear the fruit on the trunk; and in this particular tree the fruit is heaped up around the base of the trunk in such profusion as to suggest the idea of its having been placed there. Several species of the section Covellia exhibit this peculiarity; and some even go farther and bury their fruit in the ground, where it ripens, like the earth-nut Arachis hypogœa. Ficus conglobata, King, and F. hypogœa, King, belong to this group. The former bears enormous clusters of figs which are wholly or partially buried in the soil; and of the latter, Mr. H. O. Forbes, who collected it in Sumatra, at an altitude of 5000 feet, says “the fig-bearing branches issue from the stem very near the ground, and at once become sub-terrestrial, producing figs either entirely or partially buried. These figs when very young are devoid of colour in the upper half, but pinkish in the lower half. When a little older they become reddish-pink all over, and when mature they are of a greenish-grey colour.” The Species of Ficus of the Indo-Malayan and Chinese Countries. Part II. Synœcia, Sycidium, Covellia, Eusyce, and Neomorphe. By George King, &c. Annals of the Royal Botanic Garden, Vol. 1. Part 2, pp 67–185, tt. 87–225. (Calcutta: Printed at the Secretariat Press. London: L. Reeve and Co. 1888.)