FICUS PLATYPHYLLA Del.—Gamji. MORACEAE.
A common species of fig tree, readily distinguished by the great size of its leaves and by the rusty colour of its bark. It attains a great size, over 60 feet in height, with enormous girths. The size of the large spreading limbs and breadth of crown are a feature. The lower limbs are horizontal and of great length and the crown is either flat-topped or round. There are small root flanges and often great lengths of root above ground. Though the leaves are few in number their size makes the tree give good shade. Life is started epiphytically.
The Bark, especially of younger trees and the branches of old trees, is rust red and there are large, scattered or patchy scales on the bole, which are light grey. The slash is dull pink, with a flow of milky sap.
The Leaves are very large and dark green. Twelve inches long and 8 inches wide, the upper surface is velvety with hairs and the veins show a pink tint. The under surface is lighter and the veins so prominently raised as to resemble rubber piping. The base is cordate and the tip pointed. The new leaves spring from the tips of the twigs above the figs.
The Figs are borne in clusters a foot or more in length and the crop is often a very heavy one. They ripen in December or January, or in places later, and the new foliage grows above them. The twigs on which the figs are borne are an inch thick with blunted tips. The figs themselves are an inch in diameter and have a 1½ inch stalk. They are reddish in colour with a soft skin and are covered with red warts.
FICUS POLITA Vahl.—Durumi. MORACEAE.
This is one of the commonest of the fig trees, chiefly occurring in towns where it is planted for its shade. It is the densest of all the shade trees and readily identified by its very large, spherical or flat-topped crown of darkest green, and heart-shaped leaves. It branches not above 10 feet from the ground and innumerable straight branches extend in every direction to form the dense, superficial crown. In form it differs from F. Thonningii in being flatter topped and not so tall, the crown being umbrella-shaped. The trunk of an old tree may be of great size and is built up of many aerial stems formed from the growth downwards of the aerial roots which anchor themselves to the soil or hang in festoons from the branches. A network of roots may often be seen spreading several feet round the base of the tree.