Common Name: Forest Sandpaper Fig

General Information

Forest sandpaper fig is a deciduous tree usually growing up to 21 metres tall, but with occasional specimens up to 30 metres[, ]. The slightly crooked bole is up to 50cm in diameter; it can be fluted or buttressed[, ]. 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 very widely used in traditional medicine in Africa, being commonly harvested from the wild for local use and also being sold in local markets. The tree also has several other local uses, the leaves being employed as a sandpaper, the plant having insect repellent properties and the wood also being used. Ficus exasperata has been used to provide shade in plantations and is planted as an avenue shade tree[].

Known Hazards

Although the leaf is sometimes recorded to be poisonous to goats and sheep, it is often fed to ruminants, especially in Ghana[].
The stem bark and the leaf are ingredients of arrow-poisons[].

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - widely distributed from Senegal to Djibouti and Yemen, south to Angola, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Habitat

Drier parts of the evergreen forest and in secondary jungle[]. Evergreen forests and forest margins, and riverine vegetation, often as a strangler, sometimes persisting in cleared places[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Tree
Height	20.00 m
Pollinators	Wasps
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

The tree can be coppiced[].
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].
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

The fresh leaf is locally added to oil palm fruits in the milling or pounding stage in order to improve the quality and stability of the oil obtained[]. The inclusion of Ficus exasperata leaves in the processing of oil palm resulted in better stabilization of the oil in Nigeria. The anti-oxidant activities were enhanced whereas saponins, where present, were eliminated and sterols reduced[].

Medicinal

Forest sandpaper fig is commonly employed in African traditional medicine, being used in the treatment of a wide range of conditions. There have been several investigations into its medicinal actions.
Aqueous extracts of the leaf have shown gastrointestinal protective effects, diuretic activity, lipid-lowering effects and hypotensive effects[].
An ethanolic extract of the leaf showed in-vivo analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity and weak antipyretic activity[].
Methanolic plant extracts have shown antitumour activity and inhibition against trypsin activity[].
Aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the leaf did not show any toxicity in various bioassays[].
A compound with nematicidal activity, 5-methoxysporalen, has been isolated from the leaf. The content was six times higher in young leaves than in mature leaves[].
The stem and leaf contain alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and cyanogenic glycosides[].
The fruit contains flavonoids and xanthones[].

Root decoctions are used in the treatment of urinary tract ailments, gonorrhoea, asthma and tuberculosis. The root is chewed in case of cough. The root is an ingredient in a prescription to expel worms[].
The root bark is used against eye problems. The body is rubbed with root scrapings as a tonic[].

The wood ash or charcoal is applied on lesions caused by leprosy[].

Decoctions of the bark are used in the treatment of coughs, worms, haemorrhoids and abnormal enlargement of the spleen. They are also used as ingredients in the treatment of heart problems. A cold bark extract is drunk in case of dizziness. A maceration of the bark, combined with Senna occidentalis and Setaria megaphylla is taken to facilitate childbirth or to heal gonorrhoea[].
Sap from the stem bark is used to stop bleeding, as a treatment of wounds, sores, abscesses, eye ailments, stomach-ache and for the removal of spines, but some traditional healers consider it corrosive to the skin and dangerous to ingest. The ash of burnt stem bark is sprinkled on wounds[]. Scrapings from the bark are made into an embrocation with stimulant and tonic properties. The stem bark is locally applied on the body for the treatment of malaria[].

The leaves and young stems are abortifacient, analgesic, antidote, diuretic, emetic, oxytocic and stomachic. A decoction is taken for the treatment of dysentery; diseases of the kidneys and urinary tract; respiratory conditions such as coughs, colds, flu and asthma; hypertension. The young leaf is chewed and swallowed in case of gastric ulcers[]. The fresh leaf is used as an ingredient of preparations for the treatment of heart diseases[]. The leaves are cooked with bananas and eaten as a treatment for gonorrhoea; the cooking water is also drunk for this purpose[].
The leaf juice or a decoction of the leaf is applied as an enema for the treatment of stomach-ache, and as an antidote to poison[].
The leafy shoot is used in preparations applied externally against jaundice. Leaf pulp or sap is externally applied for the treatment of eye ailments, rash, wounds, leprous sores, fungal infections, itching, oedema, ringworm, rheumatism, and lumbar and intercostal pain. The powder of the dried leaf is sprinkled on burns[]. The leaves are used as a mouthwash against thrush, inflammation of the gums and other mouth and throat ailments[]. The head is rubbed with warmed leaves for the treatment of headaches; tumours are also rubbed with warmed leaves. In case of severe headache, the patient’s head is washed with a decoction of the leaf[].
The abrasive leaf surface is used to scarify the skin to promote penetration of medicines, and to scour the tongue and throat for the treatment of mouth and throat ailments[]. The leaf is also used to scratch itching parts of the body and is ingested for mechanical treatment of diarrhoea and intestinal worms[].

The fruit is eaten as a treatment of coughs and venereal diseases. The dried and powdered fruit is added to porridge for the treatment of sterility in women[].

Water with the seed powder is drunk as a tonic in case of fever[].

Agroforestry Uses:

Wild trees are sometimes maintained when the forest is cleared so that they can provide shade in banana, coffee or cocoa plantations[].

Other Uses

The rough leaves are widely used as a sandpaper for polishing wooden, metal or ivory articles, such as kitchen utensils, gourds, sticks, bows, spear shafts, chairs, boards and bracelets[, , ].

A maceration of the leaf is sprayed on crops against insect attack[].
Cowpea pods treated with Ficus exasperata leaf powder before being stored under traditional conditions showed decrease in both the percentage of beans with Callosobruchus maculatus and the number of emerged beetles[].

The white wood is moderately hard[]. It is used for making canoes, house posts, furniture, stools, utensils, containers and drums[, ]. Young branches are used for making pipe (smoking pipe) stems[].
The wood is used for fuel and for making charcoal[, ].

Propagation

Seed -
Cuttings.

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