Common Name:

General Information

Ficus citrifolia is an evergreen shrub, or more commonly a tree with a spreading crown; it can grow up to 18 metres tall. The bole can be 75cm in diameter[]. The plant often begins life as an epiphyte, growing in the branch of another tree; as it grows older it sends down aerial roots which, when they reach the ground quickly form roots and become much thicker and more vigorous. They supply nutrients to the fig, allowing it to grow faster than the host tree. The aerial roots gradually encircle the host tree, preventing its main trunk from expanding, whilst at the same time the foliage smothers the foliage of the host. Eventually the host dies, leaving the fig to carry on growing without competition[].
The tree is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food and source of wood. It is grown as a hedge and also as an ornamental and shade-providing tree[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

S. America - Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guyanas; C. America - Panama to Mexico; Caribbean; Florida.

Habitat

Forests, thickets, fence rows and roadsides[]. Plants of moist and wet evergreen forest formations from sea level to 1,200 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	12.00 m
Pollinators	Wasps
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, 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

Fruit - raw[]. Fleshy, but with very little flavour[]. The roundish fruit is greenish, often brown dotted, turning reddish and brownish at maturity, about 10mm in diameter[].

Medicinal

None known

Agroforestry Uses:

The plants make excellent live fences because they root so readily from cuttings[].

Other Uses

The sapwood is whitish, and the heartwood light brown. The wood is fairly light in weight, soft, yet tough and strong for its weight. Nevertheless, it is not durable and is very susceptible to attack by dry-wood termites. The rate of air-seasoning is slow, and amount of degrade is minor.Machining characteristics are as follows: planing and sanding are good; shaping, turning, boring, and mortising are poor; and resistance to screw splitting is excellent. It is used for making guitars and is suitable for boxes, crates, interior construction, and light carpentry[].
The wood is used for fuel[].

Propagation

Seed -

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