Ficus craterostoma

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Ficus craterostoma
Ficus craterostoma, Manie van der Schijff BT.jpg
In Pretoria, South Africa
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Moraceae
Genus: Ficus
Subgenus: F. subg. Urostigma
Species:
F. craterostoma
Binomial name
Ficus craterostoma
Synonyms [1]
  • F. anomaniHutch.
  • F. furcata var. angustifoliaDe Wild.
  • F. luteolaDe Wild.
  • F. mutantifoliaHutch.
  • F. pilosulaDe Wild.
  • F. rubropunctataDe Wild.
  • F. ruwenzoriensisDe Wild.

Ficus craterostoma, a species of strangler fig, is a fig shrub or tree of the Afrotropics that may grow up to 20 m tall. [2] It is found in lowland tropical and swamp forests in the west, or in afromontane forests, including rocky situations, along Africa's eastern escarpments. The western and eastern populations may constitute separate species, as they occur at different altitudes where their ranges meet in central Africa, while they seem to have exclusive pollinating wasp species. [3]

Contents

Foliage

Ficus craterostoma, Krantzkloof Natuurreservaat.jpg
Spray with sessile, axillary figs on the terminal branchlets
Ficus craterostoma, vye naby twygpunt, c, Manie van der Schijff BT.jpg
Sessile, axillary figs

Their dark, small leaves are obovate to blunt-tipped (reverse triangular) or even concave at the tip. [4] The leaves of F. natalensis are similar, though more rounded and never concave at the tip. [5]

Figs

The small, stalkless figs grow in pairs in leaf axils. They measure from 0.5 to 1 cm in diameter and assume a yellowish red colour when ripe. [4] [5] Without the presence of the pollinating wasp, the figs will abort and are dropped in large numbers. [4] The pollinating wasp of the western and eastern populations are Alfonsiella michaloudi and Alfonsiella pipithiensis respectively. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Ficus</i> Genus of flowering plants in the mulberry family Moraceae

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The common fig (F. carica) is a temperate species native to southwest Asia and the Mediterranean region, which has been widely cultivated from ancient times for its fruit, also referred to as figs. The fruit of most other species are also edible though they are usually of only local economic importance or eaten as bushfood. However, they are extremely important food resources for wildlife. Figs are also of considerable cultural importance throughout the tropics, both as objects of worship and for their many practical uses.

<i>Ficus macrophylla</i> Species of banyan tree

Ficus macrophylla, commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New South Wales, as well as Lord Howe Island. Its common name is derived from Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia. It is best known for its imposing buttress roots.

<i>Ficus rubiginosa</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Moraceaea native to eastern Australia

Ficus rubiginosa, the rusty fig or Port Jackson fig, is a species of flowering plant native to eastern Australia in the genus Ficus. Beginning as a seedling that grows on other plants (hemiepiphyte) or rocks (lithophyte), F. rubiginosa matures into a tree 30 m (100 ft) high and nearly as wide with a yellow-brown buttressed trunk. The leaves are oval and glossy green and measure from 4 to 19.3 cm long and 1.25 to 13.2 cm wide.

<i>Ficus citrifolia</i> Species of fig native to the Americas

Ficus citrifolia, also known as the shortleaf fig, giant bearded fig, Jagüey, wild banyantree and Wimba tree, is a species of banyan native to southern Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America south to Paraguay. It is distinguished from the closely related Florida strangler fig mainly by the finer veining in the leaves.

<i>Ficus elastica</i> Species of Asian fig known as the Indian rubber plant, the rubber bush and other names

Ficus elastica, the rubber fig, rubber bush, rubber tree, rubber plant, or Indian rubber bush, Indian rubber tree, is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae, native to eastern parts of South and Southeast Asia. It has become naturalized in Sri Lanka, the West Indies, and the US state of Florida.

The Pondoland fig is a species of fig that is endemic to forests of coastal South Africa, where it is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Ficus aurea</i> Species of strangler fig

Ficus aurea, commonly known as the Florida strangler fig, golden fig, or higuerón, is a tree in the family Moraceae that is native to the U.S. state of Florida, the northern and western Caribbean, southern Mexico and Central America south to Panama. The specific epithet aurea was applied by English botanist Thomas Nuttall who described the species in 1846.

<i>Ficus pleurocarpa</i> Species of epiphyte

Ficus pleurocarpa, commonly known as the banana fig, karpe fig or gabi fig, is a fig that is endemic to the wet tropical rainforests of northeastern Queensland, Australia. It has characteristic ribbed orange and red cylindrical syconia. It begins life as a hemiepiphyte, later becoming a tree up to 25 m (82 ft) tall. F. pleurocarpa is one of the few figs known to be pollinated by more than one species of fig wasp.

<i>Ficus obliqua</i> A tree, the small-leaved fig

Ficus obliqua, commonly known as the small-leaved fig, is a tree in the family Moraceae, native to eastern Australia, New Guinea, eastern Indonesia to Sulawesi and islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Previously known for many years as Ficus eugenioides, it is a banyan of the genus Ficus, which contains around 750 species worldwide in warm climates, including the edible fig. Beginning life as a seedling, which grows on other plants (epiphyte) or on rocks (lithophyte), F. obliqua can grow to 60 m (200 ft) high and nearly as wide with a pale grey buttressed trunk, and glossy green leaves.

<i>Ficus sur</i> Species of fig

Ficus sur, with the common names Cape fig and broom cluster fig, is a widespread Afrotropical species of cauliflorous fig.

<i>Ficus sansibarica</i> Species of tree

The Ficus sansibarica, known as knobbly fig, is an African species of cauliflorous fig. It is named after Zanzibar, where Franz Stuhlmann discovered it in 1889. They often begin life as epiphytes, which assume a strangling habit as they develop. They regularly reach 10 m, but may grow up to 40 m tall as forest stranglers.

<i>Ficus capreifolia</i> Species of fig

The river sandpaper fig is a fig shrub or small tree of the western and eastern Afrotropics. It is typically found around pans or flood plains, or along riparian fringes in tropical or subtropical savanna regions, but is absent from the tropical rainforest zone. Despite its regular scrambling habit it may attain a height of 7 to 10 m.

<i>Ficus salicifolia</i> Species or subspecies of Afrotropical fig

The Wonderboom is an evergreen fig species that ranges from the KwaZulu-Natal midlands northwards to tropical East Africa. It grows especially on outcrops, rocky hillsides and along cliffs fringing water courses and may rarely grow up to 10 m tall, and acquire a leafy spreading crown.

<i>Ficus ingens</i> Species of fig

Ficus ingens, the red-leaved fig, is a fig species with an extensive range in the subtropical to dry tropical regions of Africa and southern Arabia. Despite its specific name, which means "huge", or "vast", it is usually a shrub or tree of modest proportions. It is a fig of variable habit depending on the local climate and substrate, typically a stunted subshrub on elevated rocky ridges, or potentially a large tree on warmer plains and lowlands. In 1829 the missionary Robert Moffat found a rare giant specimen, into which seventeen thatch huts of a native tribe were placed, so as to be out of reach of lions.

<i>Ficus burtt-davyi</i> Species of fig from Southern Africa

Ficus burtt-davyi is a fig species endemic to Southern Africa, belonging to the Mulberry family of Moraceae. It grows in coastal and inland forests up to 1500m, from the vicinity of Mossel Bay in the Southern Cape to southern Mozambique - the forms growing on coastal dunes in the northern part of its range are salt tolerant and form low thickets on the margins of woodland. In the southern and eastern Cape forests the species becomes a strangler or liane, while when found on rocky outcrops and cliffs it usually develops into a rock-splitter.

<i>Ficus cordata</i> Species of plant in the family Moraceae

Ficus cordata, the Namaqua rock fig, or Namaqua fig is a species of fig that occurs in two disjunct populations in Africa, one in the arid southwest of the continent, and a second in the northern subtropics. In the south it is often the largest and most prominent tree, and is virtually restricted to cliff faces and rock outcrops, where it has a rock-splitting habit.

<i>Ficus cyathistipula</i> Tropical African fig tree

''Ficus cyathistipula'', the African fig tree, is a species of fig that is native to the tropical forest regions of Africa. They may be small trees, shrubs or hemi-epiphytic lianas, and are widespread in the moist tropics, where they may be found in Afromontane or rainforest, often overhanging pools. The figs are reddish when ripe, and have thick, spongy walls that enable them to float on water. They are named for their cup-shaped (cyathus-) and persistent stipules (stipula).

<i>Ficus ilicina</i> Species of tree

The Laurel fig is a species of rock-splitting fig that is native to the semi-desert regions of southwestern Africa. It is only found on rocks, up to an altitude of 1,300 m (4,300 ft).

<i>Ficus polita</i> Species of fig

Ficus polita, the heart-leaved fig, is a species of fig that is native to forests of tropical Africa,

<i>Ficus amplissima</i> Species of fig tree

Ficus amplissima, also known as the Indian Bat tree, Indian Bat fig, Pimpri, Pipri (Piparee), Pipali or Bilibasari mara is a tree species of flowering plants that belongs to Moraceae, the fig or mulberry family. It is native to Central and southern Peninsular India, Sri Lanka and Maldives, having a significant distribution throughout Western Ghats of India. It is most commonly planted to provide shade in coffee plantations due to its dense and wide foliage. The ripened figs attract many birds, especially during the spring.

References

  1. "Ficus craterostoma Warb. ex Mildbr. & Burret, Synonyms". ThePlantList. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  2. "Ficus craterostoma Warb. ex Mildbr. & Burret". African Plant Database. Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques & South African National Biodiversity Institute. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  3. 1 2 Rasplus, Jean-Yves & Simon van Noort. "Ficus craterostoma Mildbraed & Burret 1911". figweb. Iziko Museums. Archived from the original on 16 November 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 Van Wyk, Braam; et al. (1997). Field Guide to the Trees of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik. p. 72. ISBN   1-86825-922-6.
  5. 1 2 Pooley, Elsa (1997). The complete guide to trees of Natal, Zululand & Transkei. Durban: Natal Flora Publications Trust. pp. 72–73. ISBN   0-620-17697-0.

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