Ficus fistulosa (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Ficus fistulosa Reinw. ex Blume

Family: Moraceae

Synonyms

• Ficus grandidens Merr.,
• Ficus harlandii Benth.,
• Ficus rubrovenia Merr.,
• Ficus repandifolia Elmer.

Vernacular names

• Common yellow stem-fig (En)
• Indonesia: beunying (Sundanese), kujajing (Kalimantan), wilada, lolo (Javanese)
• Malaysia: ara serapat, kelampong bukit (Peninsular), kedebu
• Philippines: tibig (Tagalog), siau (Bicol), basikong (Manobo)
• Thailand: ching, ching khao (peninsular), maduea plong (south-eastern), ching-ban (southern)
• Vietnam: sung bông.

Distribution

From India (Assam), Burma (Myanmar), Indo-China, southern China, Taiwan, Thailand and the Nicobar Islands to Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Philippines, and the Lesser Sunda Islands.

Uses

Young fruits and shoots are eaten raw as a vegetable.

Observations

• Evergreen tree, 7-15 m tall, with yellow latex. Leaf-blade elliptical to obovate, 7-33 cm × 2-15 cm, entire or shallowly serrate, thinly coriaceous; petiole 1-6 cm long.
• Fruit a fig, globular or broadly ellipsoid, 1.5-3 cm in diameter; fruit stalk up to 4 cm long; in fascicles on stem and thick branches.

In open forest, forest-edges, in hedges and thickets, up to 2100 m altitude.

Selected sources

7, 20, 24, 26, 44, 66. vegetables