Ficus auriculata explained

Ficus auriculata (the Roxburgh fig, Elephant ear tree) is a type of fig tree, native to subtropical and tropical mainland Asia. It is noted for its big and round leaves and edible fruit.

Description

This plant is a small tree of high with numerous bristle-covered branches. The leaves are big and round, and are up to long and wide, with cordate or rounded base, acute apex, and 5–7 main veins from the leaf base. Its petioles are up to long, and it has stipules of about long. The plant has oblate syconium that are up to wide, covered with yellow pubescence, and emerge from the trunk or old branches of the tree.[1] [2] Ficus auriculata is dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate individuals.[3] On ripening, the fruits turn from light yellow to purple. The fruit is a fleshy receptacle. The fruits form as large clusters on the trunk, on branches and also on the roots.

Fruit extracts contain many phenolic compounds (Gaire et al. 2011).[4]

Taxonomy

It was first published by Portuguese Botanist João de Loureiro (1717–1791), in Fl. Cochinch. on page 666 in 1790.

It is commonly known as the Roxburgh fig, which is named after botanist William Roxburgh, who was appointed Superintendent of the Calcutta Botanical Gardens by the East India Company in 1793. Experiments carried out on fruiting Ficus auriculata trees at the Calcutta Botanic Gardens by the then Superintendent George King and his Botanic Garden colleagues described in King in 1897 which was the first detailed explanation of how the dioecious figs were pollinated by fig wasps which bred in the figs of male trees and then flew to female fig trees to pollinate the female figs.[5] It is also known as Elephant Ear Fig Tree, Elephant Ear Tree and Giant Indian Fig, due to the leaves, as auricle is the Latin word for ear, referring to the two 'ears' at the base of heart shaped leaf.[6]

Distribution

The native range of this species stretches from north-eastern Pakistan to southern China and the Malaysian peninsula. It is found in the countries (and regions) of Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, southern China, East and West Himalaya, Hainan, India, Laos, Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Tibet and Vietnam.

Habitat

It grows in forests in moist valleys, growing along stream banks.[6]

Ecology

Ceratosolen emarginatus is an insect that helps to pollinate this plant.[7] [8]

Uses

The fresh fruit of this plant is consumed as food, and has diuretic, laxative and digestive regulating properties. Ficus auriculata is used as fodder in Nepal. It is least resistant to fire, but likes good sunlight.[9]

The large leaves, often up to long and wide are used as plates.[6]

Plant problems

The tree is susceptible to scale. It also has minor issues with gall, mealy bugs, thrips, whitefly, and spider mite.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 29. Ficus auriculata . Flora of China .
  2. Book: Yoshitaka . Tanaka . Nguyen . Van Ke . 2007 . Edible Wild Plants of Vietnam: The Bountiful Garden . Thailand . Orchid Press . 978-9745240896 . 96.
  3. 10.1016/j.foreco.2011.10.022 . The phenology of dioecious Ficus spp. Tree species and its importance for forest restoration projects . 2012 . Kuaraksa . Cherdsak . Elliott . Stephen . Hossaert-Mckey . Martine . Forest Ecology and Management . 265 . 82–93 .
  4. Gaire . B.P. . Lamichhane . R. . Sunar . C.B. . Shilpakar . A. . Neupane . S. . Panta . S. . Phytochemical screening and analysis of antibacterial and antioxidant activity of Ficus auriculata (Lour.) stem bark. . Pharmacognosy Journal . 2011 . 3 . 21 . 49–55..
  5. Book: King . George . The species of Ficus of the Indo-Malayan and Chinese countries . 1888 . Bengal secretariat press . Calcutta . 67–185.
  6. Web site: Ficus auriculata (Elephant Ear Fig Tree, Elephant Ear Tree, Giant Indian Fig, Roxburgh fig) North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox . plants.ces.ncsu.edu . North Carolina State University . 25 October 2023.
  7. Distribution and ultramorphology of antennal sensilla in female Ceratosolen emarginatus Mayr (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae), a specific pollinator of Ficus auriculata . LI Zong-Bo . YANG Pei . PENG Yan-Qiong . YANG Da-Rong . Acta Entomologica Sinica . 2012 . 55 . 11 . 1272–1281.
  8. Web site: Ficus auriculata Loureiro, 1790 . van Noort, S. . Rasplus, J.-Y. . 2018 . Figweb . Iziko Museums of South Africa.
  9. Web site: Ficus auriculata . ForestryNepal . 2014-02-24 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140222053848/http://www.forestrynepal.org/resources/trees/ficus-auriculata . 2014-02-22.