From DENNIS HILL
In ‘Scratching the surface of evolution’, the authors made a comment
that is incorrect (10 November). They said that plants of the family Moraceae
do not grow in savanna woodland areas. The point is of some importance,
for the fruits of the tropical fig trees must have played an important part
in the evolution of many groups of animals.
I cannot speak of the New World, but in Asia and Africa most species
of Ficus are either at forest edges or are riverine (either within a forest
or outside). Only a small proportion are either rainforest canopy trees,
or understorey shrubs. For example, most banyans (Ficus subgenus Urostigma)
grow at the edges of forests, or on river banks, and in other open areas
in the tropics. In Uganda and Kenya the banyans Ficus brachypoda and F natalensis
typically grow in savanna/woodland.
Dennis Hill Skegness Lincolnshire
