Common Name:

General Information

Ficus rigo is an evergreen tree growing up to 15 metres tall. The bole is unbuttressed and the tree does not generally have many aerial roots, though in older trees the aerial roots can sometimes form subsidiary trunks[]. The tree can start life as an epiphyte in another tree[].
The plant produces an excellent quality latex which can be used to make rubber. It was at one time cultivated for this purpose[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Australasia - southeast New Guinea.

Habitat

On or near the coast[].

Properties

Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	12.00 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

None known

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

A good quality latex is produced from the plant. It can be used to make an excellent rubber, on a par with Hevea brasiliensis[, ].

Propagation

Seed -
Cuttings root readily[].

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