Ficus vallis-choudae

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Ficus vallis-choudae
Ficus vallis-choudae-Jardin botanique Meise (5).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Moraceae
Genus: Ficus
Species:
F. vallis-choudae
Binomial name
Ficus vallis-choudae
Delile

Ficus vallis-choudae is a shrub or small to medium sized tree within the family Moraceae, in the genus Ficus and sub-genus, Sycomorus. [1]

Contents

Description

The species can grow up to 20 m in height, with a spreading crown, bark is pale brown to greyish in color, it has a fibrous slash exuding milky white latex; the branches tend to be pale brownish in color when mature and velvety when young. [2] Leaves are broadly ovate in outline with a dentate margin, reaches 30 cm long and 24 cm wide with petioles present, both upper and lower surface of the leaves are smooth and glabrous. Single figs borne on leaf axils that sometimes reach up to 3 cm in diameter and are shortly pubescent. [2]

Ecology

In the forests of Uganda, black crested mangabeys and chimpanzees have been observed to eat the figs of the species. [3] [4] In Ivory Coast, bat species, Epomops buettikoferi and Micropteropus pusillus have been observed to also feed on the figs of Ficus vallis-choudae. [5]

Distribution and habitat

Occurs in West Africa from Guinea westwards to Sudan and southwards to Mozambique. Commonly found in swampy and gallery forest regions and woodlands, also can be spotted in grasslands. [1]

Uses

In parts of East Africa, the wood is used as material for furniture making and as a source of charcoal. Among the Biafada people, leaves are cooked and eaten as part of a vegetable sauce. Leaf and stem extracts are also used as part of a decoction to treat jaundice and gastro-intentinal conditions. [6]

Figs are edible and eaten in parts of Cameroon. [6]

References

  1. 1 2 Kerdelhué, Carole; Rasplus, Jean-Yves (1996). "Non-Pollinating Afrotropical Fig Wasps Affect the Fig-Pollinator Mutualism in Ficus within the Subgenus Sycomorus" . Oikos. 75 (1): 3–14. Bibcode:1996Oikos..75....3K. doi:10.2307/3546315. ISSN   0030-1299. JSTOR   3546315.
  2. 1 2 Aweke G. Revision of the genus Ficus L. (Moraceae) in Ethiopia (Primitiae Africanae XI). Meded. Landbouwhogeschool Wageningen. 1979; 79–83.
  3. Freeland, W.J (1979-12-22). "Mangabey (Cercocebus albigena): Social Organization and Population Density in Relation to Food Use and Availability" . Folia Primatologica. 32 (1–2): 108–124. doi:10.1159/000155907. ISSN   0015-5713. PMID   118905.
  4. Reynolds, V.; Plumptre, A. J.; Greenham, J.; Harborne, J. (1998-07-03). "Condensed tannins and sugars in the diet of chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii ) in the Budongo Forest, Uganda" . Oecologia. 115 (3): 331–336. Bibcode:1998Oecol.115..331R. doi:10.1007/s004420050524. ISSN   0029-8549. PMID   28308423. S2CID   9514573.
  5. Thomas, D. W. (1984). "Fruit Intake and Energy Budgets of Frugivorous Bats". Physiological Zoology. 57 (4): 457–467. doi:10.1086/physzool.57.4.30163347. ISSN   0031-935X. S2CID   82858454.
  6. 1 2 Burkill, Humphrey M. (1997). The useful plants of West tropical Africa. 4: Families M - R (Ed. 2, 1. publ ed.). Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens. p. 256. ISBN   978-1-900347-13-6.