Abstract
THE natural phenomenon of one tree within another is very frequently witnessed in India in the case of the “pípal” (vulg. peepul) and the palmyra. The first instance which drew my attention to it was one in which a very large specimen of the former with a stem some 4 ft. thick was surmounted by a towering palm which seemed to grow out of, and in continuation of, the solid trunk at a height of about 30 ft., and rose to a height of 30 to 40 ft. more. I speak from recollection only. An amicable dispute took place between two natives, of whom I inquired about it—both strangers to the locality—the one declaring that the palm grew up inside the tree from the ground, and the other that it grew upon it. Subsequently I saw numbers of others in all stages, and recognised the fact that the fig grows up by the side of the palm and gradually encloses it, so completely as to defy examination of the resulting trunk. The tree that I speak of was by far the most remarkable specimen of the kind, and therefore I give its locality. It is a little south of the town of Kodangal, in the Hyderabad country, long. 77° 40′ E., lat.17° 6′ N.
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HERSCHEL, J. Trees “Pierced” by other Trees. Nature 10, 6 (1874). https://doi.org/10.1038/010006b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/010006b0
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