Common Name: Cluster Fig

General Information

Ficus racemosa is an evergreen or, in drier areas, deciduous tree, often with an irregular crown; it can grow 20 - 30 metres tall. The bole becomes deeply buttressed as the tree grows older and can be 36 - 90cm in diameter[, ].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine. It is often cultivated, both for its fruit and also as a shade tree in plantations and an ornamental tree in parks, large gardens etc[, ].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

, ,

Range

E. Asia - Southern China, Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia.

Habitat

In open, deciduous forest, common along river banks in lowlands[]. Moist areas, beside rivers and streams, occasionally in streams at elevations of 100 - 1,700 metres in southern China[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Semi-deciduous Tree
Height	8.00 m
Pollinators	Wasps
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Ficus species are common and form an important element of lowland rain forest, both as canopy and understorey trees. Most species prefer per-humid forest, but several are found in areas with a monsoon climate and in teak forest, including locations where the soil dries out[].
Succeeds in full sun to partial shade[]. Succeeds in most soils that are reasonably moist but well-drained[].
Cluster fig is resistant to fire[].
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 or cooked[, ]. Sweet, but rather insipid[]. They are used in various preserves and side-dishes[]. Unripe fruits are pickled and used in soups[]. The fruit can be dried and ground into a flour then eaten with sugar and milk[, ]. The powder from roasted fruits forms a valuable breakfast food[]. In times of scarcity, the unripe fruit is pounded, mixed with flour and made into cakes[]. The fruit is up to 25mm in diameter[].

The leaves are eaten as vegetable[]. Young shoots are eaten raw or cooked[].

The roots can be cut to provide a liquid that can be drunk as water[].

Medicinal

The leaves are used in the treatment of diarrhoea[].

The bark is astringent[]. It is used in the treatment of haematuria, menorrhagia, and haemoptysis[].

The fruit is astringent[]. It is used in the treatment of haematuria, menorrhagia, and haemoptysis[]. The fruit, when filled with sugar, is considered to be very cooling[].

A fluid that exudes from the cut roots of the tree is considered to be a powerful tonic when drunk for several days together[].
The sap is a popular remedy in Bombay, that is applied locally to mumps and other inflammatory glandular enlargements, and is also used in the treatment of gonorrhoea[].

The root is chewed as a treatment for tonsilitis[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The tree is cultivated to provide shade for coffee trees[].
It is used for slope, gully and river bank stabilization because it produces a deep and wide-spreading root system[].
The leaves provide a valuable mulch[].

Other Uses

Used as a rootstock for the common fig, Ficus carica[].

The bark contains tannin[].

The latex is used in the production of water-resistant paper and as plasticizer for Hevea rubber[, ].

The straw-coloured wood is coarse-grained, light in weight, soft, and porous. It is not a durable wood, though it lasts well under water, and hence is used for well frames. The wood is used for low-quality purposes and items such as minor construction, cheap furniture, packing cases, mouldings, laundry tubs, fruit crates etc[, , , ].
The wood is used as a fuel[, ].

Propagation

Seed - germinates best at a temperature around 20°c[].
Air layering[].
Tip cuttings around 4 - 12cm long, taken from lateral branches[].

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