Ficus altissima

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Moraceae

Trees , shrubs , vines , or rarely herbs, frequently with milky or watery latex, sometimes spiny . Stipules present, frequently caducous . Leaves alternate, rarely opposite; petiole often present and well-defined; leaf blade simple , sometimes with cystoliths , margin entire or palmately lobed , venation pinnate or palmate. Inflorescences axillary , frequently paired , racemose, spicate , capitate, or rarely cymose , sometimes a fig or syconium with flowers completely enclosed within a hollow receptacle. Flowers unisexual (plants monoecious or dioecious), small to very small. Calyx lobes (1 or) 2-4(-8), free or connate , imbricate or valvate . Corolla absent. Male flowers: stamens as many as and opposite to calyx lobes (except in Artocarpus), straight or inflexed in bud; anthers 1- or 2-loculed, crescent-shaped to top-shaped; pistillode (rudimentary sterile pistil) often present. Female flowers: calyx lobes usually 4; ovary superior, semi-inferior, or inferior, 1(or 2) -loculed; ovules 1 per locule, anatropous or campylotropous; style branches 1 or 2; stigmas usually filiform . Fruit usually a drupe, rarely an achene, enveloped by an enlarged calyx and/or immersed in a fleshy receptacle, often joined into a syncarp. Seed solitary; endosperm present or absent.

Between 37 and 43 genera and 1100–1400 species: widespread in tropical and subtropical areas, less common in temperate areas; nine genera and 144 species (26 endemic, five introduced ) in China.

Economically, the most important species are those of Morus and Maclura associated with the production of silk . Some species in Broussonetia, Maclura, and Morus are important for paper making; some species in Artocarpus, Ficus, and Morus have edible fruit; and some species of Artocarpus and Broussonetia are used for furniture or timber.[1]

Genus Ficus

Trees , shrubs , or woody vines , evergreen or deciduous, commonly epiphytic or scandent as seedlings; sap milky . Terminal buds surrounded by pair of stipules. Leaves alternate, monomorphic (dimorphic in F . pumila ) ; stipules caducous , fused, enclosing naked buds. Leaf blade : margins entire (lobed in F . carica ), rarely dentate ; venation pinnate or nearly palmate. Inflorescences small, borne on inner walls of fruitlike and fleshy receptacle (syconium) . Flowers: staminate and pistillate on same plant. Staminate flowers sessile or pedicellate ; calyx of 2-6 sepals; stamens 1-2, straight. Pistillate flowers sessile; ovary 1-locular; style unbranched, lateral . Syconia globose to pyriform ; achenes completely embedded in enlarged, fleshy, common receptacle and accessible by apical opening (ostiole) closed by small scales . x = 13.

Species ca. 750: tropics and subtropics, chiefly Asian.

Worldwide, Ficus is one of the largest genera of flowering plants . Members of the genus are usually treated as a separate tribe within Moraceae because of their unique inflorescence and wasp-dependent system of pollination.

The floral characters (especially of the American species, which are quite uniform ) are exceedingly difficult to use or of little value in distinguishing species. Therefore they are not used in the species descriptions. The form of the syconium, however, is often significant and taxonomically useful.[2]

Physical Description

Habitat

Mountains, plains ; 100-2000 m [3].

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

Notes

Publishing author : Blume Publication : Bijdr. Fl. Ned. Ind. 9: 455 1825 [20 Sep-7 Dec 1825]

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Similar Species

Members of the genus Ficus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 164 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

F. afghanistanica (Fig Tree) · F. albert-smithii (Figueira-Do-Alberto) · F. altissima (Council Tree) · F. altissima 'Aureo Variegata' (Council Tree) · F. amazonica (Figueira-Amaz) · F. americana (Jamaican Cherry Fig) · F. aripuanensis (Figueira-De-Aripuana) · F. arnottiana (Crow Fig (Ceylon)) · F. aspera (Mosaic Fig) · F. aurea (Florida Strangler Fig) · F. auriculata (Elephant Ear Fig Tree) · F. bengalensis (Banyan Tree) · F. benghalensis (Ban Yan) · F. benghalensis 'Bengal Tiger' (Ban Yan) · F. benjamina (Benjamin Fig) · F. benjamina 'Exotica' (Exotic Fig) · F. benjamina 'Golden Princess' (Weeping Chinese Banyan) · F. Benjamina 'Jamie K' (Chinese Banyan) · F. benjamina 'Natasha' (Miniature Ficus) · F. benjamina 'Starlight' (Chinese Banyan) · F. benjamina 'Variegata' (Chinese Banyan) · F. benjamina 'Wintergreen' (Chinese Banyan) · F. binnendijkii (Long-Leaf Fig) · F. binnendykii (Narrow Leaf Ficus) · F. blepharophylla (Mulemb) · F. broadwayi (Gameleira-Do-Cerrado) · F. calyptroceras (Gameleira-Branca) · F. capensis (Broom Cluster Fig) · F. carica (Brevo) · F. carica 'Alma' (Fig Tree) · F. carica 'Black Jack' (Black Jack Fig) · F. carica 'Black Mission' (Common Fig) · F. carica 'Brown Turkey' (Brown Turkey Fig) · F. carica 'Calimyrna' (Common Fig) · F. carica 'Celeste' (Common Fig) · F. carica 'Desert King' (Common Fig) · F. carica 'Italian Honey' (Fig) · F. carica 'Kadota' (Fig Tree) · F. carica 'Lsu Purple' (Common Fig) · F. carica 'Magnolia' (Common Fig) · F. carica 'Mission' (Mission Fig) · F. carica 'Osborn's Prolific' (Osborn's Prolific Fig) · F. carica 'Peter's Honey' (Peter's Honey Fig) · F. carica 'Petite Negra' (Common Fig) · F. carica 'Verte' (Common Fig) · F. carica 'Violette Du Bordeaux' (Common Fig) · F. carica 'Violette Normande' (Common Fig) · F. carica 'White Adriatic' (Common Fig) · F. castellviana (Figueira-De-Rond) · F. catappifolia (Falsa-Catapa) · F. citrifolia (Shortleaf Fig) · F. clusiifolia (Red-Fig Tree) · F. communis (Atlantic Figsnail) · F. congesta (Red Leaf Fig) · F. cordata (Namaqua Fig Tree) · F. cordata salicifolia (Wonderboom Fig (South Africa)) · F. coronata (Sandpaper Fig) · F. cotinifolia (Strangler Fig) · F. craterostoma (Forest Fig) · F. cyclophylla (Gameleira-Grande) · F. dammaropsis (Dinner Plate Fig) · F. deltoidea (Delta Fig) · F. dendrocida (Mata-Pau) · F. destruens (Rusty Fig) · F. drupacea (Brown-Woolly Fig) · F. drupacea var. pubescens (Fig) · F. elastica (Indian Rubberplant) · F. elastica 'Variegata' (Rubber Tree) · F. elastica var. Burgundy (Rubber Tree) · F. elastica 'Decora' (Rubber Tree) · F. elastica 'Honduras' (Rubber Plant) · F. elastica 'Sylvia' (Rubber Tree) · F. erecta (Inu-Biwa) · F. fraseri (Sandpaper Fig) · F. geniculata (Dotted Fig) · F. glumosa (Mountain Rock Fig) · F. gnaphalocarpa (Quicuio) · F. godeffroyi (Fig) · F. greiffiana (Figueira-De-Greif) · F. hirsuta (Molemb) · F. hispida (Boombil) · F. infectoria (White-Fruited Wavy Leaf Fig Tree) · F. ingens (Red-Leaved Rock Fig) · F. insipida (Red Fig (Belize)) · F. krukovii (Figueira-De-Krukoff) · F. lacor (Java Fig) · F. luschnathiana (Agarrapalo) · F. lutea (Big Leaved Fig) · F. lyrata (Fiddle Fig) · F. maclellandii (Alii Bush) · F. maclellandii 'Alii' (Banana-Leaf Ficus) · F. macrocarpa (Moreton Bay Fig) · F. macrophylla (Moreton Bay Fig) · F. macrophylla columnaris (Lord Howe Island Banyan) · F. malacocarpa (Cumacabali) · F. matiziana (Figueria-De-Matiz) · F. mexiae (Figueira-De-Mexia) · F. microcarpa var. crassifolia 'Green Mound' (Ficus) · F. microcarpa 'Green Island' (Dwarf Ficus) · F. microcarpa 'Hawaii' (Chinese Banyan)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A bibliographic enumeration of Bornean plants, by E. D. Merrill. Singapore, Printed by Fraser & Neave, ltd., 1921 url p. 220, p. 220.
• A hand-book to the flora of Ceylon: containing descriptions of all the species of flowering plants indigenous to the island, and notes on their history, distribution, and uses: with an atlas of plates illustrating some of the more inte by Henry Trimen. London: Dulau, 1893-1931. url p. 414.
• A manual of dangerous insects likely to be introduced in the United States through importations. Ed. by W. Dwight Pierce, entomologist, southern field crop insect investigations. Washington: Govt. print. off., 1918. url p. 103, p. 103.
• A text-book of botany and pharmacognosy, intended for the use of students of pharmacy, as a reference book for pharmacists, and as a handbook for food and drug analysts. London, Lippincott[c1907] url .
• An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, Manila, Bureau of Printing, 1922-26. url p. 44.
• Applied and economic botany for students in technical and agricultural schools, pharmaceutical and medical colleges, for chemists, food analysts and for the those engaged in the morphological and physiological study of plants. New York, Wiley[1916] url p. 516.
• Applied and economic botany, especially adapted for the use of students in technical schools, agricultural, pharmaceutical and medical colleges, and also as a book of reference for chemists, food analysts and students engaged in by Henry Kraemer. .. illustrated with 424 plates, comprising about 2000 figures. Philadelphia, The author[c1914] url p. 516.
• Botanical publications of E.D. Merrill. [New York, etc., 1899- url p. 220, p. 44.
• Bulletin / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology. Washington: G.P.O., 1904-1916. url p. 10, p. 107, p. 29.
• Bulletin of miscellaneous information /Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 1921 London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1900-1941. url p. 71.
• Bulletin of the New York Botanical Garden. 1 1899 Lancaster, Pa.: Published for the Garden by the New Era Printing Co., url p. 192, p. 238, p. 380.
• Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 46 1919 New York: Torrey Botanical Club, 1870-1996 url p. 494.
• Catalog of hymenoptera in America north of Mexico / prepared cooperatively by specialists on the various groups of Hymenoptera under the direction of Karl V. Krombein. .. [et al.]. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979- url p. 2532, p. 749, p. 759.
• Check-list of the species of fishes known from the Philippine Archipelago, Manila, Bureau of printing, 1910. url p. 194, p. 521.
• Conservation and sustainable management of trees, report of the third regional workshop, held at Army Hotel, Hanoi, Viet Nam, 18-21 August, 1997 WCMC url p. 123.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45 2003 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 303, p. 437, p. 530.
• Florists' review Chicago: Florists' Pub. Co. url , , , , .
• Forest culture and eucalyptus trees, San FranciscoCubery1876 url p. 488.
• Horticulture. Boston, Mass.: Horticulture Pub. Co., c1904- url p. 501, p. 558, p. 640.
• Indian trees: an account of trees, shrubs, woody climbers, bamboos, and palms indigenous or commonly cultivated in the British Indian empire / London: A. Constable, 1906. url p. 600.
• Leaflets of Philippine botany. 4 1911-1912 Manila: Oriental Printing Co., 1906-1939. url p. 1243.
• List of trees, shrubs, and principal climbers, etc., recorded from Burma: with vernacular names / by J.H. Lace. Rangoon, Burma: Supt., Govt. Print., 1922. url p. 227.
• Official guide to the Botanic Gardens, Dominica: illustrated: with an index of the principal plants. Dominica: The Garden, 1922? url p. 14.
• Preliminary report on the forest and other vegetation of Pegu. CalcuttaC.B. Lewis, Baptist Mission Press1875 url p. cxix.
• Select extra-tropical plants readily eligible for industrial culture or naturalization, with indications of their native countries and some of their uses. Detroit, Mich., G.S. Davis, 1884. url p. 155.
• Select extra-tropical plants, readily eligible for industrial culture or naturalisation, with indications of their native countries and some of their uses. By Baron Ferd. von Mueller. .. Sydney, T. Richards, government printer, 1881. url p. 140.
• Standardized plant names; a catalogue of approved scientific and common names of plants in American commerce. Salem, Mass., 1923. url p. 151.
• The American florist: a weekly journal for the trade. Chicago: American Florist Company, [1885-1931] url , p. 544, p. 550, p. 731, p. 811.
• The Florists' exchange: a weekly medium of interchange for florists, nurserymen, seedsmen and the trade in general. New York, N.Y.: [A.T. De la Mare Ptg. and Pub. Co., url p. 567, p. 638, p. 722.
• The Hawaiian forester and agriculturist. Honolulu: Hawaiian Gazette Co., 1904-1933. url p. 18, p. 9.
• The Journal of the Linnean Society. Botany. 24 1888 London: the Society: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green: ||Williams and Norgate, 1865-1968. url p. 31, p. 457, p. 556.
• The Philippine journal of science. 3 1908 Manila. url p. 131, p. 451.
• Torreya. Burlington, Vt., Torrey Botanical Club, 1901-1945. url p. 9.
• Vernacular list of trees, shrubs, and woody climbers in the Madras Presidency. Madras, Printed by the Superintendant, Government Press, 1915. url p. 460, p. 494, p. 563, p. 647.
• Chang Siushih, Wu Chengyih & Cao Ziyu. 1998. Moroideae. In: Chang Siushih & Wu Chengyih, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 23(1): 1219.
• Chang Siushih, Wu Chengyih & Cao Ziyu. 1998. Moroideae. In: Chang Siushih & Wu Chengyih, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 23(1): 1219.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 11, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 24, 2007:

• Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Bishop Museum Natural History Specimen Data
• Harvard University Herbaria, Harvard University Herbaria
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2676321
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-565192
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13767858
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:852369-1
• GRIN Nomen Number: 16764
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 565192
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 852369-1
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDMOR0A0C0
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: FIAL4
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 39258

Footnotes

1. Zhengyi Wu, Zhe-Kun Zhou & Michael G. Gilbert "Moraceae". in Flora of China Vol. 5 Page 21. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. "Ficus". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
3. "Ficus altissima". in Flora of China Vol. 5 Page 43. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.