Ficus asperifolia Hook. ex Miq.

Species

Angiosperms > Rosales > Moraceae > Ficus

Characteristics

Shrub up to 5 m. tall, often with whippy, straggling or subscandent branches.. Leafy twigs 1–5 mm. thick, white to brown hirtellous, hispidulous ± strigillose or almost glabrous.. Leaves distichous, alternate; lamina chartaceous to subcoriaceous, elliptic to oblong, ovate, subobovate, lanceolate or sometimes linear, 3–12 × 1.5–12 cm., usually ± asymmetrical, apex acuminate to caudate, acute or sometimes obtuse, base acute to obtuse or rounded, margin dentate to irregularly pinnately lobed or divided or sometimes subentire; upper surface scabrous, hispidulous or strigillose, lower surface hispid to hirtellous, sometimes almost glabrous; lateral veins 3–10 pairs, in large leaves up to 13, or in very narrow leaves often more than 13; petiole 0.5–2 cm. long; stipules 0.3–0.6 cm. long, puberulous to almost glabrous, caducous.. Figs 1–3(–5) together in the leaf-axils or just below the leaves, sometimes on the older wood; peduncle up to 4 mm. long; 2–4 small bracts scattered on the peduncle, 2–4 similar bracts on the outer surface of the receptacle.. Receptacle depressed globose to globose or obovoid, ± 1–2 cm. in diameter when fresh, 0.5–1.2 cm. when dry, hispid or hispidulous, dark red to orange or yellowish at maturity.
More
Leaves distichous, alternate; lamina elliptic to oblong, ovate, subobovate, lanceolate or sometimes linear, 3–23 x 1.5–12 cm., usually ± asymmetrical, chartaceous to subcoriaceous, apex acuminate to caudate, acute or sometimes obtuse, base cuneate or rounded, margin dentate to irregularly pinnately lobed or divided, sometimes subentire; superior surface scabrous, hispidulous or strigillose, the inferior surface hispid to hirtellous, sometimes almost glabrous; lateral veins usually 3–10 pairs, up to 13 pairs in large leaves, or more than 13 pairs in very narrow leaves; petiole 5–20 mm. long; stipules 3–6 mm. long, puberulous to almost glabrous, caducous.
Figs 1–3(5) together in the leaf axils or just below the leaves, sometimes on the older wood; peduncle (5)8–15 mm. long; bracts 2–4, small, scattered on the peduncle, 2–4 similar bracts on the receptacle outer surface; receptacle depressed globose to obovoid, c. 1.5–3 cm. in diam. when fresh, 1–1.5 cm. in diam. when dry, ± hispidulous, dark red to orange or yellowish at maturity.
A fig. It is a scrambling shrub. It grows 2-4 m high. It can be a creeper 8 m long. The leaves are in 2 lines on opposite sides of the stems. They are alternate. They are 3-23 cm long by 1-12 cm wide. They are papery and usually have unequal sides. The figs occur as 1-3 together. They are in the axils of leaves. They are 2-3 cm across. They are dark red or orange.
Leafy twigs 1–5 mm. thick, white to brown hirtellous, hispidulous, ± strigillose or almost glabrous.
Shrub up to 5 m. tall; branches often whippy, straggling or subscandent.
Brownish-purplish branchlets
A shrub, usually scrambling
Scabrid leaves
Life form perennial
Growth form shrub
Growth support climber
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality gynodioecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 4.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A tropical plant. It grows in damp sites and near river banks in West and Central Africa. It grows in evergreen forests and along rivers. It grows from sea level to 1,800 m altitude.
More
Damp sites or river-banks; of riverine forest or closed secondary jungle.
By rivers.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

Uses environmental use food material medicinal poison social use
Edible fruits leaves
Therapeutic use Cancer (unspecified), Colic (unspecified), Eye (unspecified), Fever (unspecified), Gonorrhea (unspecified), Intestine (unspecified), Megalospleny (unspecified), Piles (unspecified), Poultice (unspecified), Ringworm (unspecified), Stomach (unspecified), Tumor (unspecified), Urogenital (unspecified), Abortifacient (unspecified), Headache (unspecified), Antidote (unspecified), Conjunctivitis (unspecified), Emmenagogue (unspecified), Sore (unspecified), Tonic (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

The pollinating wasp is Kradibia gestroi afrum (Wiebes).
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) 15 - 90
Germination temperacture (C°) 21 - 26
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Ficus asperifolia world distribution map, present in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Chad, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia

Conservation status

Ficus asperifolia threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:852432-1
WFO ID wfo-0000687389
COL ID 6HW6W
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 768372
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Ficus acutifolia Ficus manicariarum Ficus paludicola Ficus scolopophora Ficus storthophylla Ficus urceolaris Ficus xiphophora Ficus asperifolia Ficus cnestrophylla Ficus colpophylla Ficus irumuensis Ficus pendula Ficus warburgii Ficus storthophylla var. cuneata Ficus urceolaris var. bumbana