Ficus vitiensis

Description

A fig. It is a shrub or slender tree. It grows 1-20 m high. It has white latex. The trunk is about 35 cm across. The figs are green but become yellow s they ripen. They are 5 cm across. They can be near the leaves or on the trunks and branches. They can be in clusters 15 cm across. The figs occur throughout the year.

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw. Considered to be the most edible of the wild figs in Fiji. A sweet flavour. The small fruit is much enjoyed by children. The figs are green, becoming yellow and up to 5cm in diameter.

Traditional Uses

The figs are eaten.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

A decoction (of leaves?) is reported to provide an internal remedy for sprains.

Distribution

A tropical plant. In Fiji it grows from sea level to 850 m altitude. It grows in open grassland and dry forest.

Where It Grows

Fiji, Pacific,

Cultivation

The plant can produce fruit all year round. Fig trees have a unique form of fertilization, each species relying on a single, highly specialized species of wasp that is itself totaly dependant upon that fig species in order to breed. The trees produce three types of flower; male, a long-styled female and a short-styled female flower, often called the gall flower. All three types of flower are contained within the structure we usually think of as the fruit. The female fig wasp enters a fig and lays its eggs on the short styled female flowers while pollinating the long styled female flowers. Wingless male fig wasps emerge first, inseminate the emerging females and then bore exit tunnels out of the fig for the winged females. Females emerge, collect pollen from the male flowers and fly off in search of figs whose female flowers are receptive. In order to support a population of its pollinator, individuals of a Ficus spp. must flower asynchronously. A population must exceed a critical minimum size to ensure that at any time of the year at least some plants have overlap of emmission and reception of fig wasps. Without this temporal overlap the short-lived pollinator wasps will go locally extinct.

Other Uses

The bark is fibrous. We have no specific information for this species, but the fibre is likely to be used for making cordage, possibly cloth and maybe also to make tapa bark cloth. The fibrous branches used to clean teeth. The leaves of some species are used to wrap food for cooking. The leaves of some species are quite rough and can be used as a sandpaper substitute and for scouring pots. The wood of plants in this genus is usually of low quality, light in weight, soft and not very durable. It is sometimes used for purposes such as light construction, digging sticks, yam stakes, etc. The wood is also used for fuel and sometimes for making fire by friction.

Other Information

The fruit are especially eaten by children.

Notes

There are about 800-1000 Ficus species. They are mostly in the tropics. There are 120 Ficus species in tropical America.

Synonyms

Also Known As

Komba

References (6)

• Clarke, W.C. & Thaman, R.R., 1993, Agroforestry in the Pacific Islands: Systems for sustainability. United Nations University Press. New York. p 78
• Jansen, A. A. J., et al, (Eds), 1990, Food and Nutrition in Fiji. Volume One. p 52
• Parham, H. B. R, 1940, Supplement to the Journal of the Polynesian Society No. 16. Fiji Plants: Their Name and Uses.
• Reis, S. V. and Lipp, F. L., 1982, New Plant Sources for Drugs and Foods from the New York Botanical Garden herbarium. Harvard. p 44
• Smith, A.C., 1981, Flora Vitiensis Nova: A New flora of Fiji, Hawai Botanical Gardens, USA Vol 2 p 193

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