떡갈잎고무나무-Ficus lyrata Warb.

 

떡갈잎고무나무

 

과명	Moraceae (뽕나무과)	속명	Ficus (무화과나무속)
전체학명	Ficus lyrata Warb.	추천명	떡갈잎고무나무
이명		외국명	Fig Banjo; Fig Fiddle-leafFig Fiddle-leafFiddle-leaffig; Fieele-leaf; Banjo fig

Chinese Name : 琴叶榕, 提琴叶榕

Plant Morphology : Growth Form: Small to medium-sized tree, up to 12m height when grown in ground, but can reach 30m in native habitat. Crown sparse in young trees, but dense and rounded in mature trees under ideal conditions. Trunk: Solitary, with greyish shallowly-cracked bark. Foliage: Glossy dark green, leathery, large (45cm by 30cm), yellowish veins prominent on upper surface and bulging below, obovate to lyrate (lyre-shaped) or pandurate (fiddle-shaped), often with wavy margins. Flowers: Minute, numerous, hidden on inner wall of synconium receptacles. Species is monoecious, with male / gall (sterile) and female flowers found in separate synconiums on the same tree. Fruits: Globose, fleshy hollow synconiums, green with depressed yellow spots, very dense and hard, 3 - 5cm across, with persistent basal stipules, sessile (stalkless), bore in pairs in leaf axils at branch tips. Mature specimens planted outdoors reported to produce figs seasonally in Singapore. But the process is suspected to be parthenogenic, resulting in figs with non-viable seeds due to absence of the associated pollinator-wasp Agaon spatulatum from Africa. [Others]: Category: Non-strangling fig tree. Ethymology: Genus epithet 'Ficus' derived from Latin name for edible fig Ficus carica. Species epithet 'lyrata' means 'like a lyre', a reference to the shape of the foliage.

Habitat : Distributed in lowland rainforests across tropical Africa.

Cultivation : Slow-growing but hardy, prefers full sun but takes bright shade when young. Keep soil moist, avoid overwatering and do not allow plant to stand in excess water to prevent root rot. Too much or too little water and insufficient light will result in dying of lower older leaves. Potted young trees tend to assume leggy monopodial form, with single non-branching stem -- prune growing tip or top the plant from an early age to encourage branching. Propagate by air-layering (use 1 - 2 year old branches) or stem cuttings (use rooting hormone). Reportedly more difficult to propagate by vegetative means than other Ficus species. Note: All cut or bruised plant surfaces exude a milky sap that may cause skin irritation in susceptible individuals, and is toxic if ingested.

https://florafaunaweb.nparks.gov.sg/special-pages/plant-detail.aspx?id=2911