Australia, New Zealand Encyclopedia 7. (töredék) [antikvár]

A Fijian woman shops in a Suva marlet for da, a 'starchy' root vegetable and a traditional food in the islands.FIG TREESThere are more than 50 species of fig trees native to Austraha, and most of them occur in Queensland. Edible Mediterranean figs have also been introduced, and they thri-ve in many areas. In Papua Ne-w Guinea there are probably about 200 species. The 1000 species of figs -which grow throughout the world make up the genus Ficus of the mulberry family Moraceae. There are no figs native to New Zealand.The 'fruit' of the fig is really a hollow sac containing tiny flowers. It becomes ripe when these flowers have seeded. Some fig trees take root in the forks of other trees, where birds have dropped the seeds. After a while they send down roots to the ground and keep growing until they have surrounded and killed the host tree. Banyans grow in this way. The Lord Howe Island species of Ficus may eventually cover 8 ha.The best known of the Australian species are the large Moreton Bay fig and Port Jackson fig. Both are commonly grown as shade trees. The Port Jackson fig is also called rusty fig, because of the colour of the undersides of its leaves.The fig trees of PNG have large fruits, butthey are not generally eaten. However people find many other uses for fig trees. The corrugated leaves of some species are used to wrap meat before it is cooked, and a type of cloth is made from the beaten bark of others.FIJIFiji consists of a group of about 322 islands in the Pacific Ocean about 1800km N of New Zealand. The larger islands are of volcanic origin. Fiji forms the easternmost fringe of Melanesia the part of the Pacific originally inhabited by the melanesians. Formerly a British colony, Fiji became independent in 1970.Fiji's total area is 18,300km^ About 100 of its islands are inhabited and the four main islands are Viti Levu (where the capital, Suva, is situated) and Vanua Levu, Taveuni, and Kandavu. Major groups include the Lau, Yasawa and Loniaiviti islands. The climate is hot and sunny, with cyclones between October and March. The volcanic soil is fertile, and on the wetter windward side growth is luxuriant. The highest point is Mount To-maniivi (1324m) on Viti Levu.505