Ficus drupacea (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Ficus drupacea Thunb.

Family: Moraceae

Synonyms

• Ficus payapa Blanco,
• Ficus pilosa Reinw. ex Blume.
• Ficus chrysochlamys Lauterb. & K. Schumann
• Ficus chrysocoma Blume

Vernacular names

• Brown-woolly fig (En)
• Indonesia: bulu timun (Javanese), kiara gambir, kiara wunuk (Sundanese), kalihi, melitih (Sumba), nabu (Timor)
• Malaysia: akar piangu antan
• Philippines: payapa, balete (Tagalog), nonok (Bisaya), teha (Manokwari)
• Thailand: lung khon (northern), krang bai khon (Bangkok), haimi (Ubon Ratchathani).

Distribution

From Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Burma (Myanmar) to Indo-China, Thailand, throughout the Malesian region, the Solomon Islands and Australia (Queensland).

Uses

The figs are edible but rather tasteless. Formerly the tree was planted as a host for lac insects. Weak rope can be prepared from the bark. Powdered roots are used to cure wounds.

Observations

• Large tree, up to 40 m tall, epiphytic when young, brown woolly-hairy on buds, twigs and leaf undersides.
• Leaves oblong-elliptic, up to 30 cm × 13 cm.
• Fruit a fig, axillary, sessile, paired, ovoid to cylindrical, 2-3 cm × 1.5-2 cm, ochre-yellow or red.

In evergreen and deciduous forests, up to 1200 m altitude. Five varieties have been distinguished, mainly based on characteristics of basal bracts.

Selected sources

• Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink, R.C., 1963 1968. Flora of Java. 3 Volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands.

• Brown, W.H., 1951-1957. Useful plants of the Philippines. Reprint of the 1941-1943 ed. 3 Volumes. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Technical Bulletin 10. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines.

• Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2nd ed. 2 Volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.

• Corner, E.J.H., 1965. Check-list of Ficus in Asia and Australasia with keys to identification. The Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 21: 1-186.

• Corner, E.J.H., 1988. Wayside trees of Malaya. 3rd ed. 2 Volumes. The Malaysian Nature Society. United Selangor Press, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 774 pp.

• Merrill, E.D., 1923 1925. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants. 4 Volumes. Government of the Philippine Islands, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Bureau of Printing, Manila.

• Ridley, H.N., 1922-1925. The Flora of the Malay Peninsula. 5 Volumes. Government of the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States. L. Reeve & Co., London.

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen, J. Jukema, L.P.A. Oyen, T.G. van Lingen