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CECROPIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 594 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CECROPIA , in See also:

botany, a genus of trees (natural See also:order See also:Moraceae), native of tropical See also:America. They are of very rapid growth, affording a See also:light See also:wood used for making floats. C. peltata is the See also:trumpet See also:tree, so-called from the use made of its hollow stems by the Uaupe See also:Indians as a musical See also:instrument. It is a tree reaching about 5o ft. in height with a large spreading See also:head, and deeply lobed leaves 12 in. or more in See also:diameter. The hollows of the See also:stem and branches are inhabited by ants, which in return for the shelter thus afforded, and See also:food in the See also:form of succulent growths on the See also:base of the See also:leaf-stalks, repel the attacks of leaf-cutting ants which would otherwise See also:strip the tree of its leaves. This is an instance of "myrmecophily," i.e. a living together for, mutual benefit of the ants and the plant.

End of Article: CECROPIA

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