Common Name:

General Information

Ficus glaberrima is an evergreen tree growing up to 15 metres tall. The bole can be 15 - 30cm in diameter[]. The plant is a large, strangling fig that sometimes 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 plant is gathered from the wild for local use as a food and source of fibre.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

E. Asia - southern China, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia

Habitat

Open forests in mountains and plains, limestone mountains at elevations of 500 - 2,800 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	15.00 m
Pollinators	Wasps
Cultivation Status	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[]. The fruits of var bracteata are sweet and juicy[]. The yellow-orange to purple-black, subglobose fruits are 8 - 11mm wide[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

A fibre obtained from the inner bark is used to prepare ropes[].

Propagation

Seed - germinates best at a temperature around 20°c[].
Air layering[].
Tip cuttings around 4 - 12cm long, taken from lateral branches[].

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