The status of this species is questionable. It is accepted as a valid species in the Flora do Brazil (2012), but is seen as no more than part of the Ficus citrifolia Mill., complex in most other treatments[].

Common Name:

General Information

Ficus guaranitica is an evergreen tree with a large, elongate crown; it can grow 10 - 20 metres tall. The short bole can be 90 - 180cm in diameter with a large prop root[].
The tree provides excellent shade and can be used for planting in squares and large gardens[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

S. America - Argentina, Paraguay, southern and central Brazil, Bolivia.

Habitat

Semideciduous forests, in both dense, primary formations and more open secondary growth areas; favouring deep, fertile soils[].

Properties

Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	15.00 m
Growth Rate	Fast
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Grows best in a sunny position[]. Prefers a deep, fertile soil[].
Plants can be slow-growing when small, but then speed up to become quite fast-growing[].
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

None known

Medicinal

None known

Agroforestry Uses:

The tree is seen as an indicator of deep, fertile soils when it is found growing in the wild[].
A fairly fast-growing tree that succeeds in full sun and provides a good source of food for the native fauna, it can be used as a pioneer species when restoring native woodland[].

Other Uses

The wood is thick-textured, straight-grained, moderately heavy, soft, with poor mechanical properties and of low natural durability. Of low quality, it is used for fillings of doors, light boxes and veneer[].

Propagation

Seed - it has a very short viability in storage and so is best sown as soon as it is ripe in a partially shaded position in a nursery seedbed. A low germination rate can be expected, with the seed sprouting within 20 - 60 days[].

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