The Wonderboom (Ficus salicifolia) is an evergreen fig species that ranges from the KwaZulu-Natal midlands northwards to tropical East Africa.[1] It grows especially on outcrops, rocky hillsides and along cliffs fringing water courses and may rarely grow up to tall, and acquire a leafy spreading crown.[1] __TOC__
The elliptic-oblong, leathery leaves of about long, are carried on long petioles, and are often noticeably folded along the midrib. The leaf sides are almost parallel and clear net-veining is visible on the lamina. Leaves are brittle and have a characteristic smell when broken or bruised. The leaves are toxic and cause nervous disorders or even deaths in cattle.[2]
The small, smooth figs are carried on short stalks and measure about in diameter. They are massed along the branchlets in the leaf axils, and change from white to yellowish-red and spotted as they ripen.[1] The figs are eaten by birds and mammals.[2]
It may be confused with the similar but deciduous Ficus ingens which grows in similar habitat. The latter has somewhat larger, white to purple figs, and deep red fresh foliage.[1] The Wonderboom fig is sometimes deemed a race of Ficus cordata,[3] i.e. F. c. subsp. salicifolia (Vahl) C.C.Berg, though the latter species has yellowish sessile figs and a more westerly distribution.
It occurs in the Saharo-montane woodlands of the Tassili n'Ajjer, the Hoggar, Aïr and Tibesti mountains, the Kerkour Nourene massif and at Elba mountain in the Red Sea Hills.[4] It is widespread in the eastern Afrotropics, from southern Arabia and Socotra to the KwaZulu-Natal midlands of South Africa.[5] [6]
The species is named after the Wonderboom grove in Pretoria, that has spread from a central bole that was carbon dated to about 1,000 years old.[1] [7] The Wonderboom is an extraordinary specimen for its size and structure, and its drooping branches are continuing to root and form new trees.[7] Their branches reach about into the sky, and one of the boles has a girth of .[8]
The pollinator wasp is Platyscapa awekei Wiebes., while non-pollinating wasps include Mayr and van Noort.[6]
. Eve Palmer. A Field Guide to the Trees of Southern Africa . 91–93 . 1977 . Collins . London, Johannesburg . 0-620-05468-9.