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Useful Tropical Plants

Ficus americana

Aubl.

Moraceae

+ Synonyms

Ficus anacardiifolia Kunth & C.D.Bouché

Ficus andicola Standl.

Ficus arbutifolia Link

Ficus chiribiquetensis Dugand

Ficus chiriquiana (Miq.) Miq.

Ficus consanguinea Kunth & C.D.Bouché

Ficus erratica Standl.

Ficus eugeniifolia (Liebm.) Hemsl.

Ficus georgii Standl. & L.O.Williams

Ficus greiffiana Dugand

Ficus grenadensis Warb.

Ficus guianensis Desv. ex Ham.

Ficus jacquinifolia A.Rich.

Ficus liebmanniana (Miq.) Miq.

Ficus martini Miq.

Ficus mensalis Standl.

Ficus myriasycea Pittier

Ficus niceforoi Dugand

Ficus oerstediana (Miq.) Miq.

Ficus omphalophora Warb.

Ficus parkeriana (Miq.) Sandwith

Ficus perforata L.

Ficus periplocifolia Kunth & C.D.Bouché

Ficus rigidifolia Pittier

Ficus sintenisii Warb.

Ficus splendens Kunth & C.D.Bouché

Ficus subapiculata (Miq.) Miq.

Ficus subaporuloides Warb. ex Glaz.

Ficus sylvestris Miq.

Ficus umbonigera Warb.

Ficus wilsonii Warb.

Pharmacosycea parkeriana Miq.

Urostigma anacardiifolum (Kunth & C.D.Bouché) Miq.

Urostigma arbutifolium (Link) Miq.

Urostigma consanguineum (Kunth & C.D.Bouché) Miq.

Urostigma splendens (Kunth & C.D.Bouché) Miq.

Urostigma subapiculatum Miq.

Common Name:

Ficus americana
Fruiting branches
Photograph by: Alfredo F. Fuentes
Creative Commons License
Ficus americana Ficus americana Ficus americana Ficus americana Ficus americana Ficus americana

General Information

Ficus americana is an evergreen plant; it can vary in habit from a large-crowned epiphytic shrub growing up to 6 metres tall on the branch of a tree, to a tree with a dense, spreading crown up to 15 metres tall growing in the soil. The bole can be 30cm in diameter[
422
Title
Fruits of the Guianan Flora
Publication
 
Author
van Roosmalen. M.G.M.
Publisher
Institute of Systematic Boyany, Utrecht University; Netherlands.
Year
1985
ISBN
90-9000988-4
Description
Terse descriptions of over 1,700 species from the Guianas that bear fruits - not necessarily edible! Often mentions if the fruit is edible, plus gives brief description of habit and habitat.
,
447
Title
Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
Publication
 
Author
Little E.L.; Wadsworth F.H.
Publisher
USDA, Forest Service; Washington.
Year
1964
ISBN
 
Description
Contains detailed information, and usually an illustration, on 250 tree species, including both native and exotic species.
].
The tree is sometimes harvested from the wild for local medicinal use.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

422
Title
Fruits of the Guianan Flora
Publication
 
Author
van Roosmalen. M.G.M.
Publisher
Institute of Systematic Boyany, Utrecht University; Netherlands.
Year
1985
ISBN
90-9000988-4
Description
Terse descriptions of over 1,700 species from the Guianas that bear fruits - not necessarily edible! Often mentions if the fruit is edible, plus gives brief description of habit and habitat.

Range

S. America - Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guyanas; C. America - Panama to southern Mexico; throughout the Caribbean.

Habitat

Water courses, savannah margins, in ridge, rain and mountain savannah, and montane forests, especially in swampy places[
422
Title
Fruits of the Guianan Flora
Publication
 
Author
van Roosmalen. M.G.M.
Publisher
Institute of Systematic Boyany, Utrecht University; Netherlands.
Year
1985
ISBN
90-9000988-4
Description
Terse descriptions of over 1,700 species from the Guianas that bear fruits - not necessarily edible! Often mentions if the fruit is edible, plus gives brief description of habit and habitat.
].

Properties

Medicinal Rating *  *
HabitEvergreen Tree
Height8.00 m
PollinatorsWasps
Cultivation StatusWild

Cultivation Details



The tree probably flowers and produces fruit all year round in Puerto Rico[
447
Title
Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
Publication
 
Author
Little E.L.; Wadsworth F.H.
Publisher
USDA, Forest Service; Washington.
Year
1964
ISBN
 
Description
Contains detailed information, and usually an illustration, on 250 tree species, including both native and exotic species.
].
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[
413
Title
Global Invasive Species Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.issg.org/database/welcome/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
Very detailed information on almost 400 species (with more being added) of plants that have become weeds in areas outside their native range.
].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The latex from the stems is taken internally to relieve a sore stomach[
348
Title
Medicinal Plants of the Guianas
Publication
 
Author
DeFilipps, R. A.; Maina, S. L.; & Crepin, J.
Website
http://botany.si.edu/bdg/medicinal/index.html
Publisher
Smithsonian Museum
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
A down-loadable PDF document of a book in pre-publication awaiting illustration. An excellent, if rather terse, guide to the traditional medicinal uses of the plants of the region
].
The latex is used externally in a plaster to soothe abdominal pains[
348
Title
Medicinal Plants of the Guianas
Publication
 
Author
DeFilipps, R. A.; Maina, S. L.; & Crepin, J.
Website
http://botany.si.edu/bdg/medicinal/index.html
Publisher
Smithsonian Museum
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
A down-loadable PDF document of a book in pre-publication awaiting illustration. An excellent, if rather terse, guide to the traditional medicinal uses of the plants of the region
].

Other Uses

The sapwood is whitish and soft. The wood is soft, fairly light in weight, weak, and not durable. It is used for posts[
447
Title
Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
Publication
 
Author
Little E.L.; Wadsworth F.H.
Publisher
USDA, Forest Service; Washington.
Year
1964
ISBN
 
Description
Contains detailed information, and usually an illustration, on 250 tree species, including both native and exotic species.
].
The wood is used for fuel[
447
Title
Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
Publication
 
Author
Little E.L.; Wadsworth F.H.
Publisher
USDA, Forest Service; Washington.
Year
1964
ISBN
 
Description
Contains detailed information, and usually an illustration, on 250 tree species, including both native and exotic species.
].

Propagation

Seed -
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-10-12. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Ficus+americana>

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