Common Name:

General Information

Ficus politoria is a shrub or tree that usually grows up to 8 metres tall, exceptionally to 15 metres. The bole can be up to 15cm in diameter[, ].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of materials.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Africa - Madagascar.

Habitat

Forests and disturbed vegetation, often along the sides of streams, at elevations from sea level to 1,700 metres, occasionally to 2,000 metres[, ].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Tree
Height	6.00 m
Pollinators	Wasps
Self-fertile	No
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[].
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

Reports on the edibility of the fruit are contrasting[].

Medicinal

In traditional medicine in Madagascar a decoction of the young leaf or bud is taken for the treatment of stomach-ache. An infusion of the leaf is given as a tonic to sick people[].
The abrasive leaf surface is used to scarify the skin to promote penetration of medicines[].

Other Uses

The leaf is used as sandpaper to polish wood and metals[].

The pounded bark was formerly used for making loincloth[].

The wood is used in the construction of house frames[].

Propagation

Seed -

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