Trilepisium madagascariense

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Urnfig
Trilepisium madagascariense00.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Moraceae
Genus: Trilepisium
Species:
T. madagascariense
Binomial name
Trilepisium madagascariense
DC.
Synonyms
  • Bosqueia angolensisFicalho
  • Bosqueia phoberosThouars ex Baill.
  • Pontya excelsaA.Chev. [1]

Trilepisium madagascariense, the urnfig or false-fig, is a species of plant in the family Moraceae, with an extensive range in the subtropical and tropical Afrotropics. It grows to a medium-sized or large tree in primary or secondary forest, or in forest patches, and is rarely cultivated. [2]

Contents

Range and habitat

It is native to tropical and subtropical West and Central Africa, and occurs southwards to Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the Soutpansberg, South Africa. It is also found on Madagascar and Annobón island. [3] The closely related T. gymnandrum occurs on Silhouette Island, Seychelles. [4]

It grows in evergreen and semi-deciduous forests, flooded forests or forest patches and often grows along rivers and streams, [5] extending on to the borders of savanna. [6] It is found at altitudes of up to 2,000 m [7] and higher. [8] Its status varies from rare to locally abundant and dominant. [6]

Description

They are usually short and twisted bole and is often fluted at the base, [8] with or without buttresses. [6] Large trees may be 60 cm to 1½ m in girth, and 30 m high. [6] The smooth, grey bark is very lenticellate [9] and exudes a cream-coloured latex when damaged. [7] The yellowish to pinkish slash turns purple-red as it dries. [9] It usually branches high up to form a small and loosely pyramidal crown [8] with drooping twigs. Stipules of the terminal buds eventually leave annular scars. [9]

The glossy and very dark elliptic leaves have a prominent driptip, [5] and measure up to 14 cm long. [7] They are glossy below, and have two small lobes at the base. [9]

The flowers appear in spring and are arranged in a whitish to mauve puff. [7] The puff is about 1 cm in diameter, [5] and consists of staminate male flowers and pistillate female flowers, without perianths, [7] which obscure the view of the receptacle. [3] The flowers protrude from the open apex of an urn-shaped receptacle which is about 1.5 cm long. [5]

The fig-like fruit, embedded in fleshy receptacles, are some 2 cm long. [7] They are ellipsoidal in shape and hold a nutlet each. [5] [9] Ripe fruit have the appearance of blue plums [9] or elongated figs. [3]

Uses and species associations

The wood is suitable for furniture, and the sap yields a red dye. [5] Roasted seeds are eaten and the trees are sometimes cultivated. [8] It has many traditional uses. [6]

A methanol extract, fractions and isoliquiritigenin from the stem bark has been shown to possess antidiarrhoeal activities, [10] and previously unknown trilepisflavan and trilepisuimic acid compounds were isolated from it in 2012. [11]

Trilepisium madagascariense is a larval foodplant for the butterfly Cyrestis camillus sublineata . [5]

Related Research Articles

<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 Mulberry 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 where the subspecies F. m. columnaris is a banyan form covering 2.5 acres or more of ground. Its common name is derived from Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia. It is best known for its imposing buttress roots.

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

Ficus benjamina, commonly known as weeping fig, benjamin fig or ficus tree, and often sold in stores as just ficus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae, native to Asia and Australia. It is the official tree of Bangkok. The species is also naturalized in the West Indies and in the states of Florida and Arizona in the United States. It is one of the most common trees in Israeli cities and parks. In its native range, its small fruit are favored by some birds.

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

Ficus microcarpa, also known as Chinese banyan, Malayan banyan, Indian laurel, curtain fig, or gajumaru (ガジュマル), is a tree in the fig family Moraceae. It is native in a range from China through tropical Asia and the Caroline Islands to Australia. It is widely planted as a shade tree and frequently misidentified as F. retusa or as F. nitida.

<i>Diospyros mespiliformis</i> Species of tree

Diospyros mespiliformis, the jackalberry, is a large dioecious evergreen tree found mostly in the savannas of Africa. Jackals are fond of the fruit, hence the common names. It is a member of the family Ebenaceae, and is related to the true ebony and edible persimmon.

<i>Ficus lyrata</i> Species of flowering plant in the fig and mulberry family Moraceae

Ficus lyrata, commonly known as the fiddle-leaf fig, banjo fig, fiddle-leaved fig tree, lyre leaf fig tree, or lyre-leaved fig tree, is a species of plant in the mulberry and fig family Moraceae. It is native to western Africa, but is cultivated around the world as an ornamental plant. It has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

<i>Trilepisium</i> Genus of trees

Trilepisium, the urnfigs or false-figs, is a small Afrotropical genus of plants in family Moraceae. They grow to medium-sized or large trees that occur in evergreen and semi-deciduous forests, flooded forests or forest patches and often along rivers and streams, and at altitudes of up to 2,000 m and over.

Afromorus mesozygia, known as black mulberry or African mulberry, is the only species in the genus Afromorus. The plant is a small- to medium-sized forest tree of Tropical Africa. Its leaves and fruit provide food for the mantled guereza, a colobus monkey native to much of Tropical Africa, and for the common chimpanzee of West and Central Africa. It is also a commercial hardwood.

<i>Antiaris</i> Genus of plants

Antiaris toxicaria is a tree in the mulberry and fig family, Moraceae. It is the only species currently recognized in the genus Antiaris. The genus Antiaris was at one time considered to consist of several species, but is now regarded as just one variable species which can be further divided into five subspecies. One significant difference within the species is that the size of the fruit decreases as one travels from Africa to Polynesia. Antiaris has a remarkably wide distribution in tropical regions, occurring in Australia, tropical Asia, tropical Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines, Tonga, and various other tropical islands. Its seeds are spread by various birds and bats, and it is not clear how many of the populations are essentially invasive. The species is of interest as a source of wood, bark cloth, and pharmacological or toxic substances.

<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 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 neriifolia</i> Species of fig tree from Asia

Ficus neriifolia is a species of fig (Ficus). It is native to Asia, including Bhutan, Burma, China, India, and Nepal.

<i>Ficus lutea</i> Species of flowering plant

Ficus lutea is a medium to large sized deciduous tree in the family Moraceae. It is commonly known as the giant-leaved fig or Lagos rubbertree. These trees occur from the Eastern Cape of South Africa to Tropical Africa.

<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 auriculata</i> Species of fig

Ficus auriculata is a type of fig tree, native to subtropical parts of Asia. It is noted for its big and round leaves and edible fruit.

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

Ficus altissima, commonly known as the council tree and lofty fig, is a species of flowering plant, a fig tree in the family Moraceae. It is a large, stately evergreen hemiepiphyte and is native to southeastern Asia.

<i>Ficus vasta</i> Species of flowering plant

Ficus vasta is a fig plant found in Ethiopia and Yemen. The tree is a species of sycamore-fig.

<i>Donella viridifolia</i> Species of tree

Donella viridifolia, commonly known as fluted milkwood, is a potentially large species of evergreen milkwood tree that occurs in East African coastal forests, southerly coastal forest mosaics and in some inland forests of the tropics and subtropics.

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.

<i>Ficus laurifolia</i> Species of flowering plants

Ficus laurifolia is an hemi-epiphytic species that sometimes grows as a shrub or liana or as a tree, the species is within the family Moraceae.

References

  1. "Trilepisium madagascariense DC". The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  2. "Trilepisium madagascariense DC., False-fig (World flora)". Pl@ntNet. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  3. 1 2 3 Robertson, Hamish. "Trilepisium madagascariense (Urn-fig)". Biodiversity explorer. Iziko Museums. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  4. Baguette, F.; Baboorun, T.; Harryba, S.; Senterre, B.; Beech, E. (2018). "Trilepisium gymnandrum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T44005A127865223. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T44005A127865223.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Van Wyk, Braam; et al. (1997). Field Guide to Trees of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik. p. 82. ISBN   978-1-86825-922-9.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Burkill, H. M. (1985). "The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vol 4, Trilepisium madagascariense DC. [family MORACEAE]". JSTOR: Global Plants. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hyde, M.; et al. "Trilepisium madagascariense DC". Flora of Zimbabwe. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Trilepisium madagascariense DC". Base de données des plantes d'Afrique. Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques & SANBI. 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jongkind, C.; et al. "Trilepisium madagascariense". Fauna and Flora of Liberia. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  10. Kuiate, Jules-Roger; Kuete, Victor; Teponno, Remy Bertrand; Tapondjou, Leon Azefack; Vilarem, Gerard; Teke, Gerald Ngo (2010). "Antidiarrheal activity of extracts and compound from Trilepisium madagascariense stem bark". Indian Journal of Pharmacology. 42 (3): 157–63. doi: 10.4103/0253-7613.66839 . PMC   2937317 . PMID   20871767.
  11. Ango, Patrick Y.; Kapche, Deccaux W.F.G.; Kuete, Victor; Ngadjui, Bonaventure T.; Bezabih, Merhatibeb; Abegaz, Berhanu M. (September 2012). "Chemical constituents of Trilepisium madagascariense (Moraceae) and their antimicrobial activity". Phytochemistry Letters. 5 (3): 524–528. Bibcode:2012PChL....5..524A. doi:10.1016/j.phytol.2012.05.006.