The information on plant use contained in this record is for the species Ficus aurantiacea Griffith, a species that is treated as distinct in some works but which is treated here as a synonym of Ficus punctata in line with the review of the genus in the 'World Checklist of Selected Plant Families'(2013)[].

Common Name:

General Information

Ficus punctata is a large, evergreen climbing shrub. It roots freely from the stems and branches[, ].
The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local medicinal use.

Known Hazards

The fruits are sometimes reported to be poisonous[].

Botanical References

Range

E. Asia - Taiwan, Nicobar and Andaman Islands, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines.

Habitat

Lowland to montane forest, also in villages, coconut plantations and other human-affected habitats; at elevations up to 1,700 metres[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Habit	Evergreen Climber
Height	15.00 m
Pollinators	Wasps
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

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

None known

Medicinal

The leaf shoots are heated slowly over a fire and applied as a poultice on skin itches[].
The leaves are used to treat fever and toothache[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -

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