FICUS, a large genus of urticaceous plants, in which the male and female flowers are mixed indiscriminately on the inside of a hollow, turbinated, fleshy receptacle. The genus comprehends the various species of fig-trees, which are all either tropical or inhabitants of warm countries. Some of these are shrubs or small creeping plants; while others are among the largest trees of the forest. The species of ficus have alternate leaves and branches, and secrete a milky
juice more or less acrid, and which exists even in the common eatable fig in its unripe state. Upwards of 100 species are known, of which the following are among the most interesting.
1. Ficus Carica, a small tree which produces the common eatable fig, is a native of Asia, Africa, and the south of Europe, and has been cultivated from remote antiquity on the shores of the Mediterranean. This tree grows from 15 to 25 feet high, and the trunk sometimes attains a diameter of two feet. It has rough, lobed, deciduous leaves; the flowers are minute, unisexual, and contained in great numbers in a common receptacle, which is fleshy, turbinated, and almost closed at its apex. The male flowers (which are comparatively very few in number) occupy the superior part of this receptacle, while the lower and all the remaining part is filled with the female flowers. It is this receptacle, with its multitude of minute flowers imbedded in the pulp, which when ripe constitutes the well-known fruit. In its fresh state the fig is generally of a purplish hue, and has a soft, sweet, fragrant pulp. At least fourteen varieties are cultivated in this country, generally under glass, or in warm sheltered situations. As the cultivated fig-tree bears, for the most part, female flowers only, an artificial method of fertilizing them is resorted to in the Levant. This is the interesting process called caprifiction. The fact of this artificial impregnation is mentioned by Aristotle, who observed that a certain insect was generated on the flowers of the caprifig (wild fig), which, having become a fly, entered the unripe fruit of the domestic fig and caused it to set. Tournefort and other travellers describe the process of caprifiction as practised in the Levant as follows:—At a particular season branches of the wild fig are placed among the cultivated trees, and the fertilizing pollen of the wild plant is conveyed by the legs and wings of these insects (a species of Cynips) into the interior of the receptacle. To insure success, it is requisite to observe the proper period for this operation, which should be performed just before the insects will be ready to take wing, otherwise they might be lost. The same artificial method of fecundation with regard to the date-palm was practised in early times, according to Herodotus, by the Babylonians, who used to suspend male clusters from wild dates over the females, though they appear to have regarded the small flies found among the wild flowers as the direct cause of the fertility of the females. This process, which was called palmification, was also known to the Egyptians, the Phœnicians, and other nations of Asia and Africa.
Dried figs constitute a principal article of sustenance among the lower classes in Greece and the islands of the Archipelago. The quantity imported into Britain in 1853 amounted to 50,428 cwts. The best come from Turkey, Italy, Spain, and Provence; but the Turkish figs are most esteemed.
2. Ficus sycamorus, or Egyptian Sycamore, is a large tree with widely-spreading branches, and produces a delicate eatable fruit, which does not grow upon the tender branches, but in clustered racemes on the trunk and old limbs. It is planted extensively in Egypt on the highways for the sake of the grateful shade it affords. A specimen of this tree, much gnarled and broken, is figured in Salts Abyssinia under the name of Daroo tree. Some have supposed that the Egyptian mummy-cases were made of the wood of this tree, which would imply a wonderful degree of durability; but Professor Don is rather of opinion that the timber of Cordia Myxa was the material employed for that purpose.
3. Ficus indica, the Banyan tree, has been celebrated from antiquity for the peculiar mode of its growth. It has a woody stem, branching to a great height and vast extent, with heart-shaped entire leaves terminating in acute points. Some of these trees are of amazing size and extent, as they
are continually increasing. Every branch from the main body throws out its own roots, at first in small tender fibres, several yards from the ground; but these continually grow thicker until they reach the surface, and then striking in, increase to large trunks, and become parent trees, shooting out new branches from the top, which again in time suspend their roots, and these, swelling into trunks, produce other branches, till at length a single tree forms a little forest. From its long duration, its outstretched arms, and overshadowing beneficence, the Hindus regard the banyan tree as an emblem of the Deity. Near these trees the most esteemed pagodas are generally erected; under their shade the Brahmins spend their lives; and the natives of all castes and tribes are fond of recreating in the cool recesses, beautiful walks, and lovely vistas of this umbrageous canopy, impervious even to the direct rays of a tropical sun. The most celebrated tree of this kind is one on the banks of the Nerbudda, which has been known, in the march of an army, to afford shelter to 7000 men. Much of this remarkable tree has been swept away by high floods, but the remaining portion is said to be near 2000 feet as measured round the principal stems. The name banyan is derived from banyā, i.e. a banker—the class among the Hindus with which Europeans formerly had most frequent intercourse. A representation of a banyan tree is given under BOTANY, vol. v., p. 77, fig. 65.
4. Ficus religiosa, the pippul tree, is a large tree common to many parts of India, and is regarded with great veneration by the Hindus as having given shelter to Vishnu at his birth. It is often planted near houses for the sake of its umbrageous canopy; and its leaves, which are heart-shaped, long, and pointed, tremble like those of the aspen. They are employed by the Arabs in tanning leather.
5. Ficus elastica, which affords a large supply of the caoutchouc of commerce, abounds in Assam, and is plentifully distributed over some other parts of India. The method of obtaining the juice has been described under the head CAOUTCHOUQUE. It is a fast-growing tree, with large, shining, pointed, thick leaves, and produces a fruit about the size of an olive, but which is not eatable.