Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 May 1898 — A VEGETABLE OGRE. [ARTICLE]

A VEGETABLE OGRE.

The Wild Fig Kills the Tree Th-t Gives It Shelter. Blit of all the vegetable inhabitants of the tropical woods the strangest is that one whose seed, it is said, will die if it falls upon the ground, and which only grows when it finds a resting place on the rock or a fence, or on another tree, where there is not a particle of earth or moisture; and in all the West India forests this tree is the greatest criminal. It has a long and beautiful Latin name, which, it might be supposed, would have some subduing influence upon it, but it does not seem to. This plant is the wild fig. Let us imagine that some hungry bird, taking in its beak one of these figs, flies to a neighboring tree, and, alighting: on a lofty branch, eats the fruit. One seed is left. The sun is warm and the air moist, and after a while thq tiny germ begins to sprout, and the minute leaves, breaking their thin shell, shoot upward—tender little innocent, putting up its slender arms in a “please-help-me” sort of way, while its spider-like legs are reaching out to get a. firm hold on its aerial home. The little plant seems so harmless, and the hospitable forest giant cannot know to what a robber and monster it has given a resting place. After a while the fig sends up a stem, and its root, peeping over the edge of the lofty branch, finds the ground, 80 or 100 feet below. But nature has endowed this sprig with daring, and, nothing daunted, the slender thread drops slowly and boldly to the ground, and here takes root. As the plant grows it lets fall other long feeders, one by one, which descend to the earth. Some of the tentacles have by this time found that Ike tree itself affords an easy descent, and one day a root starts along the branch, and, reaching the trunk, trips lightly down its spiral stairs, and thus reaches the soil. Others, finding this way so easy, follow, and so the roots increase in number and size, nourishing their master above. It has now grown In strength and vigor, -and, - wrapping themselves around the trunk of the tree that supports them, the roots strain and press upon it cruelly. It is a struggle for life, but their forest host is doomed. Slowly and surely they envelop it. The embrace of the fig is death. At last the great tree dies, and little by little, rotting branch by branch, it falls to pieces, and Its place is taken by the ogre that has strangled it. The wild fig belongs to the same family as the banyan. It is found In the East and AVest Indies and in Australia, and has the same destructive kabitr. everywhere. Sometimes it grows to an immense size. The wood is soft, and the natives make bowls, trays and spoons out of it. The fruit Is about as large as an apricot.—St. Nicholas.