This species is closely related to the common fig, Ficus carica.

Common Name: Wild Fig

General Information

Ficus palmata is a deciduous shrub or much-branched small tree growing up to 5 metres tall.
The plant is often gathered from the wild for its edible fruits and young shoots. It is often cultivated for its fruit in India and Ethiopia and has been recommended for commercial cultivation[, ]. The fruits are often sold in local markets in the Himalayas[].

Known Hazards

The sap and the half-ripe fruits are said to be poisonous.

Botanical References

,

Range

Northeast Africa - Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan; through Arabia and temperate Asia to northern India, Nepal and Pakistan

Habitat

Occasionally found in forests, more commonly around villages, in waste ground, fields etc[]. Open places, generally along the banks of streams at elevations of 600 - 2,700 metres in Nepal[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Shrub
Height	4.00 m
Pollinators	Wasps
Self-fertile	Yes
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

Ficus palmata is a plant of the warm temperate to subtropical zones, also found at higher elevations of 1,000 metres or more in the tropics. Young growth, even on mature plants, is frost-tender.
Requires a well-drained medium to light loam and some lime rubble incorporated into the soil. A heavy wet soil tends to encourage excessive plant growth at the expense of fruit.
This species has been recommended for growing in areas where the climate is too wet for common figs (Ficus carica) since it fruits during the monsoon season in the Himalayas. However, it probably requires the fig-wasp in order to pollinate the flowers and so is unlikely to fruit in areas that are too cold for the fig-wasp to survive.
Annual yields from wild trees is about 25kg[].
There is a potential for commercial cultivation[].
Fig trees have a unique form of fertilization, each species relying on a single, highly specialized species of wasp that is itself totaly dependant upon that fig species in order to breed. The trees produce three types of flower; male, a long-styled female and a short-styled female flower, often called the gall flower. All three types of flower are contained within the structure we usually think of as the fruit.
The female fig wasp enters a fig and lays its eggs on the short styled female flowers while pollinating the long styled female flowers. Wingless male fig wasps emerge first, inseminate the emerging females and then bore exit tunnels out of the fig for the winged females. Females emerge, collect pollen from the male flowers and fly off in search of figs whose female flowers are receptive. In order to support a population of its pollinator, individuals of a Ficus spp. must flower asynchronously. A population must exceed a critical minimum size to ensure that at any time of the year at least some plants have overlap of emmission and reception of fig wasps. Without this temporal overlap the short-lived pollinator wasps will go locally extinct[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw. Sweet and succulent[]. A very tasty fruit[], it is often dried for later use. The fruit is about 25mm in diameter[]. The fruit contains about 6% sugars, 1.7% protein, 0.9% ash and 0.2% pectin[]. Low in vitamin C, about 3.3mg per 100g[].

The unripe fruits and young shoots are cooked and eaten as a vegetable[, ]. They are boiled, the water is removed by squeezing and they are then fried. A nice green vegetable[]. Some caution is advised, see notes above on toxicity.

Medicinal

The fruit is demulcent, emollient, laxative and poultice[, ]. It is used as a part of the diet in the treatment of constipation and diseases of the lungs and bladder[].

The sap is used in the treatment of warts.

The latex of the plant is used to take out spines lodged deeply in the flesh[].

Other Uses

The plant is used as a rootstock for the common fig (Ficus carica)[].

The pliable wood is of little value but has been used for making hoops, garlands, ornaments etc.
The wood is hard and is used for making utensils[].
The wood is used for fuel[].

Propagation

Seed - sow in a lightly shaded position in a nursery seedbed and only just cover the seed. Prick out the seedlings as soon as they are large enough to handle and plant out when 15cm or more tall.
Cuttings of mature wood 10 - 12cm long with a heel. Fairly easy, but the cuttings must be kept frost free. It is probably best if the cuttings are put in individual pots[].
Layering.

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