Abstract
The resemblance between the Malesian F. glaberrima Bl. and the Indian F. arnottiana Miq. is considered to be the result of convergent simplification. The origin of F. glaber­rima is referred to the stock of the Malesian F. depressa Bl., that of F. arnottiana to the stock of the Indochinese F. orthoneura Lévi, et Vant. Both ancestral stocks are con­sidered to have arisen on the Indochina-Philippines-New Guinea track leading to the Melanesian Foreland. In support of these conclusions evidence is drawn from ser. Callophylleae, F. talboti King, F. maclellandi King, F. calcicola Corner, F. elastica Roxb., and sect. Malvanthera. Leaf-structure in the xerophytic strangling figs is discussed. F. glaberrima var. siamensis Corner is reduced to F. arnottiana var. subcostata Corner.

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