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Useful Tropical Plants

Ficus dendrocida

Kunth

Moraceae

+ Synonyms

Ficus arboricida Schult.

Ficus dendroctonia Spreng.

Ficus elliptica Kunth

Common Name:

No Image.

General Information

Ficus dendrocida is a semideciduous tree with a low, dense, wide crown; it can grow 8 - 30 metres tall. The bole can be 40 - 60cm in diameter. The plant often produces many aerial roots[
420
Title
Brazilian Trees. Volume 2. 4th Edition.
Publication
 
Author
Lorenzi. H.
Publisher
Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora; Brazil.
Year
2002
ISBN
85-86714-15-1
Description
Information on 350 species of Brazilian trees. Stunning photographs of each species, brief details on the plant, its uses and how to grow it from seed. A superb work, with the minor irritation that the translation from Portuguese is not of the best.
,
756
Title
Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden Vol. 47
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Publisher
Missouri Botanical Garden; Missouri.
Year
1960
ISBN
 
Description
A botanical magazine, it contains part of the Flora of Panama. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
].
The tree is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use of its wood.
The Brazilian subpopulation is confined and declining. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2011)[
338
Title
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.iucnredlist.org/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

756
Title
Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden Vol. 47
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Publisher
Missouri Botanical Garden; Missouri.
Year
1960
ISBN
 
Description
A botanical magazine, it contains part of the Flora of Panama. It can be downloaded from the Internet.

Range

S. America - northern Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela; C. America - Panama.

Habitat

Amazon rainforest and savannah woodland, in soils subject to seasonal inundation, favouring moist, fertile conditions[
420
Title
Brazilian Trees. Volume 2. 4th Edition.
Publication
 
Author
Lorenzi. H.
Publisher
Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora; Brazil.
Year
2002
ISBN
85-86714-15-1
Description
Information on 350 species of Brazilian trees. Stunning photographs of each species, brief details on the plant, its uses and how to grow it from seed. A superb work, with the minor irritation that the translation from Portuguese is not of the best.
]. Margins of tidal swamps in Panama[
756
Title
Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden Vol. 47
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Publisher
Missouri Botanical Garden; Missouri.
Year
1960
ISBN
 
Description
A botanical magazine, it contains part of the Flora of Panama. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
].

Properties

Conservation StatusLeast Concern
Other Uses Rating *  *
HabitSemi-deciduous Tree
Height15.00 m
PollinatorsWasps
Cultivation StatusWild

Cultivation Details


Prefers a position in full sun[
420
Title
Brazilian Trees. Volume 2. 4th Edition.
Publication
 
Author
Lorenzi. H.
Publisher
Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora; Brazil.
Year
2002
ISBN
85-86714-15-1
Description
Information on 350 species of Brazilian trees. Stunning photographs of each species, brief details on the plant, its uses and how to grow it from seed. A superb work, with the minor irritation that the translation from Portuguese is not of the best.
]. Prefers a well-drained soil, favouring fertile, humus-rich, moist soils in the wild[
420
Title
Brazilian Trees. Volume 2. 4th Edition.
Publication
 
Author
Lorenzi. H.
Publisher
Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora; Brazil.
Year
2002
ISBN
85-86714-15-1
Description
Information on 350 species of Brazilian trees. Stunning photographs of each species, brief details on the plant, its uses and how to grow it from seed. A superb work, with the minor irritation that the translation from Portuguese is not of the best.
].
The tree often commences life as an epiphyte, growing in the branches of another tree[
420
Title
Brazilian Trees. Volume 2. 4th Edition.
Publication
 
Author
Lorenzi. H.
Publisher
Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora; Brazil.
Year
2002
ISBN
85-86714-15-1
Description
Information on 350 species of Brazilian trees. Stunning photographs of each species, brief details on the plant, its uses and how to grow it from seed. A superb work, with the minor irritation that the translation from Portuguese is not of the best.
]. Eventually it sends down shoots that produce roots when they reach soil level. The shoots thicken and become trunks, providing the tree with extra nutrition that enable it to eventually out-compete and smother the host tree[
420
Title
Brazilian Trees. Volume 2. 4th Edition.
Publication
 
Author
Lorenzi. H.
Publisher
Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora; Brazil.
Year
2002
ISBN
85-86714-15-1
Description
Information on 350 species of Brazilian trees. Stunning photographs of each species, brief details on the plant, its uses and how to grow it from seed. A superb work, with the minor irritation that the translation from Portuguese is not of the best.
].
The tree is important for the native fauna, providing food and also, with its dense crown, providing shelter[
420
Title
Brazilian Trees. Volume 2. 4th Edition.
Publication
 
Author
Lorenzi. H.
Publisher
Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora; Brazil.
Year
2002
ISBN
85-86714-15-1
Description
Information on 350 species of Brazilian trees. Stunning photographs of each species, brief details on the plant, its uses and how to grow it from seed. A superb work, with the minor irritation that the translation from Portuguese is not of the best.
].
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

None known

Other Uses

A latex obtained from the plant is quite acid. It is used to coagulate the latex obtained from the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), making a thick blanket of rubber which is called 'raw smoked sheet' which can be stored until it is sold[
757
Title
Fruit Trees and Useful Plants in Amazonian Life
Publication
Non-Wood Forest Products 20.
Author
Shanley P.; Cymerys M.; Serra M.; Medina G. (Editors)
Website
http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/i2360e/i2360e.pdf
Publisher
FAO, United Nations
Year
2011
ISBN
978-92-5-107007-9
Description
Quite a lot of information on a number of useful plants growing in the Amazon. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
].

A fibre obtained from the bark is used for making garments[
454
Title
Useful Fiber Plants of the World
Publication
 
Author
Dodge C.R.
Website
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/
Publisher
USDA; Washington.
Year
1897
ISBN
 
Description
A rather dated, but very comprehensive catalogue of fibre plants from around the world. The book can be downloaded from the Internet.
].

The wood is thick-textured, straight-grained, moderately heavy, soft to cut, with poor mechanical properties and not very durable. It is only used for purposes such as boxes and the fillings of doors and panels[
420
Title
Brazilian Trees. Volume 2. 4th Edition.
Publication
 
Author
Lorenzi. H.
Publisher
Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora; Brazil.
Year
2002
ISBN
85-86714-15-1
Description
Information on 350 species of Brazilian trees. Stunning photographs of each species, brief details on the plant, its uses and how to grow it from seed. A superb work, with the minor irritation that the translation from Portuguese is not of the best.
].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a partially shaded position in a nursery seedbed. The seed is very small, so it should be sown on the surface and gently watered into the soil, being careful not to wash it away. A low germination rate can be expected, with the seed sprouting within 21 - 35 days[
420
Title
Brazilian Trees. Volume 2. 4th Edition.
Publication
 
Author
Lorenzi. H.
Publisher
Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora; Brazil.
Year
2002
ISBN
85-86714-15-1
Description
Information on 350 species of Brazilian trees. Stunning photographs of each species, brief details on the plant, its uses and how to grow it from seed. A superb work, with the minor irritation that the translation from Portuguese is not of the best.
].
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-12-07. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Ficus+dendrocida>

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