Common Name:

General Information

Ficus erecta is a deciduous or semideciduous shrub or tree; it can grow from 2 - 7 metres tall[].
The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food and source of fibre. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

, 451

Range

E. Asia - China, Japan, Korea (Cheju Island), Taiwan, Vietnam.

Habitat

Thickets and woods, low mountains and hills[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Shrub
Height	4.00 m
Pollinators	Wasps
Self-fertile	No
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[].
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw[]. Small but very sweet[, ]. Figs axillary on normal leafy shoots, solitary, reddish yellow to blackish purple or red when mature, globose to pear-shaped, 10 - 25mm in diameter[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The bark is a source of fibre[]. It is used for making paper[].

Propagation

Seed -

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