Sycomorus
(the old Greek name used by Dioscorides; from sycos, a fig, and moros, a mulberry). ORD. Urticaceae. A genus comprising nearly a score species of stove or greenhouse trees, confined to the Old World, now included, by the authors of the "Genera Plantarum," under Ficus. Male flowers sessile, the perianth three or rarely two-parted; females sessile or pedicellate, the perianth three or many-parted. Leaves alternate, rounded-cordate or oblong, entire or serrated, glabrous, puberulous, or rough. Only a couple of species call for description here. They thrive in sandy loam, with the addition of a little leaf soil, and only small pots, in comparison to the size of plant, need be used. Plenty of syringing, or occasional sponging, will keep the leaves clean, and almost any amount of water may be applied to the roots. The plants are readily propagated by cuttings or eyes, having a leaf attached, inserted in a close frame, inside a propagating house, in early spring. S. antiquorum (ancients'). Pharaoh's Fig; Sycomore fig-tree. fl. greenish or yellowish, racemose, pedunculate. l. ovate, obtuse, cordate at base, four or five-ribbed on both sides, entire, repand, or slightly angular, at length nearly glabrous and smooth; petioles and branchlets slightly hairy. Egypt. SYN. Ficus Sycomorus.
S. capensis (Cape). l. ovate or ovate-oblong, attenuated and slightly obtuse at apex, rounded or sub-emarginate and entire at base, the rest deeply dentate-serrate, glabrous, smooth, three or four times as long as the petioles. Cape of Good Hope, 1816.