Ficus curtipes (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Ficus curtipes Corner

Protologue: Moraceae

Synonyms

Ficus obtusifolia Roxb.

Vernacular names

• Thailand: hai linmaa, hai luang (northern), sai hin (peninsular).

Distribution

From north-eastern India throughout continental South-East Asia to Indonesia (Sumatra). It is rare in north-western Peninsular Malaysia.

Uses

The latex is said to be of fairly good quality for rubber production but in Malesia the tree is too rare to be of any economic importance.

Observations

Starting as an epiphytic fig, eventually becoming a big tree, up to 40 m tall with trunk diameter of 1 m, containing latex. Leaves alternate; petiole up to 1.5 cm long; blade elliptical-oblong to obovate, 10-18 cm × 5-7 cm, base cuneate, apex rounded to truncate with numerous secondary veins which fuse at the margin to form a distinct intramarginal vein. Inflorescence a fig, arranged in axillary pairs, subtended by 3 persistent bracts; fig globose, 7 mm in diameter, yellow to yellow-pink, sessile. F. curtipes is closely allied to F. elastica Roxb. and preferably grows in per-humid lowland and hill forest.

Selected sources

11, 27, 36, 45.