Ficus racemifera Roxb.

국표에 없다.

Native to:

Bismarck Archipelago, Maluku, New Guinea, Queensland, Solomon Is.

 

Diagnostics
Deciduous (in drier areas) cauliflorous tree, 20-30 m tall, buttressed, often with irregular crown. Stipules up to 4 cm long, glabrous, often persistent. Leaves alternate, glabrous, clearly tri-veined, venation pronounced. Infructescences in big clusters on branching, leafless twigs on stem and larger branches. Fruit a fig, pyriform to subglobose, 2.5-5 cm in diameter, rose-red when ripe.

Description
Monoecious tree, up to 20-30 m tall, 25 cm diameter. Bark greenish white, smooth; inner bark yellowish. Sapwood whitish. Twigs slender, reddish brown, c. 0.2 cm thick, Stipules narrowly lanceolate, up to 4 cm long, glabrous, often persistent. Leaves distichous, membranous, glabrous, pale glaucous below; oblong, 5-11 x 1.5-3.5 cm, base broadly cuneate, margin entire, plane, faintly undulate, apex obtuse; midrib raised above; lateral veins 10-15 pairs, curved, very faint on both surfaces, with shorter veins in between, basal pair short, often with a gland in each axil below; intercostal venation reticulate, faint; petiole slender, 1-4 cm long. Syconia borne on long leafless branched twigs arising from stem and older branches, ripening red, pear-shaped, 1-1.5 cm diameter, apex depressed; peduncle 0.3-1.2 cm long; basal bracts ovate, triangular, 1-2 mm long; internal bristles absent. Tepals 3-4, red, glabrous, united at the base. Achenes lenticular, c. 1 mm long, smooth, not or scarcely keeled. [from Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak]

Ecology
In open lowland deciduous forest, common along river banks.

Uses
The figs, which are rather insipid but sweet, are edible. They are used in various preserves and side-dishes. Leaves are eaten as vegetable and are said to be used against diarrhoea. They are also used as animal fodder and they provide a valuable mulch. In India the tree is also cultivated as host plant for lac insects, shade tree for coffee and a rootstock for Ficus carica L. The latex is used in production of water-resistant paper and as plasticizer for Hevea rubber. In the Atharva Veda, this fig tree is given prominence as a means for acquiring prosperity and vanquishing foes. The bark of Audumbar/Oudumbar tree is said to have healing power. In countries like India, the bark is rubbed on a stone with water to make a paste and the paste is applied over the skin which is afflicted by boils or mosquito bites. Allow the paste to dry on the skin and reapply after a few hours. For people whose skin is especially sensitive to insect bites; this is a very simple home remedy.

Distribution
North-eastern Africa, India to Indo-China, Malesia to northern and western Australia. Not in the Philippines. In India also cultivated.

Local names
Burma: atti, umbar.
Cambodia: lovi?.
English: Cluster fig, red river fig.
India: gular (North), atti (South), udumbara (Sanskrit).
Indonesia: elo (Javanese), loa (Sundanese), arah (Madurese).
Laos: dua kiengz.
Singapore: atteeka.
Thailand: duea kliang (central, northern), duca nam (peninsular).
Vietnam: sung.

 

Ficus racemosa (asianplant.net)