Common Name: Hairy Fig

General Information

Hairy fig is a shrub or small tree with a spredaing crown; it can grow up to 17 metres tall with a bole up to 25cm in diameter[, ].
The tree is sometimes harvested from the wild for use as a food and medicine.

Known Hazards

The fruits are emetic and, in quantity, cause intestinal irritation which may lead to death[].

Botanical References

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Range

E. Asia - southern China, Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, to New Guinea and Australia.

Habitat

Open places along the base of foothills at elevations of 500 - 1,100 metres[]. An understorey tree in disturbed (open) mixed dipterocarp, regrowth and swamp forests at elevations to 100 metres. In alluvial sites and along rivers and streams[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	6.00 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 or cooked[]. Unripe green fruits are cooked as a vegetable whilst ripe fruits are eaten fresh[]. The fruits are emetic, see notes above on toxicity[]. The fruit is up to 3cm in diameter, it is often produced in clusters up to 1 metre long along the trunk and main stems of the tree[, ].

Medicinal

The juice of the root is used in the treatment of fevers[].

The bark is antiperiodic, emetic and tonic[].

The fruit is emetic[]. The juice of the fig is used in the treatment of liver problems[].

Other Uses

A fibre obtained from the inner bark is used for cordage[].

Propagation

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

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