This species is not universally accepted. We have treated it here as a distinct species, following the treatment in the online 'Flora do Brasil' (2013), but it is treated as no more than a synonym of Ficus enormis (miq.) Miq., in the 'World Checklist of Selected Plant Families'[].

Common Name:

General Information

Ficus mexiae is a deciduous tree with a dense, rounded crown; it can grow 5 - 11 metres tall. The short, grooved bole can be 30 - 40cm in diameter[].
The tree is sometimes harvested from the wild for its low value wood. It can be used as a pioneer when restoring native woodland[].
The plant is classified as 'Vulnerable' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2011)[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

S. America - eastern Brazil.

Habitat

Atlantic rainforest, usually growing on slopes in more open and secondary growth areas[].

Properties

Conservation Status	Vulnerable
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Tree
Height	8.00 m
Growth Rate	Medium
Pollinators	Wasps
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Grows best in a sunny position[].
A moderately fast-growing plant when young[].
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:

A fast-growing tree providing food for the native fauna, it can be grown as a pioneer when restoring native woodland[].

Other Uses

The wood is coarse-textured, straight-grained, light in weight, easy to cut, with poor mechanical properties and very susceptible to termites and rot. It is only used for low value items such as domestic implements and the filling in doors and panels[].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a partially shaded position in a nursery seedbed. The seed is very small and an easy way of obtaining it from the tree is to collect the fruits and place them in a plastic bag then leave them until the fruit is partially decomposed. Then mix the fruit with some water to make a suspension of seeds and pulp - this suspension can be sown directly onto the seedbed. A high germination rate can be expected, with the seed sprouting within 20 - 30 days[].

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