Ficus wakefieldii
Hutch.
Meise Botanic Garden
MBG
Meise Botanic Garden
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The figs are eaten as fruit.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. It grows along rivers and near lakes. It is often on termite mounds and rocky places. It grows between 700-2,000 m altitude.
Africa, Central Africa, Congo, East Africa, Kenya, South Africa, Southern Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia,
How to Identify
A fig. It is a tree. It grows 25 m tall. It grows attached to other plants then becomes established in the soil. The crown is wide. The leaf twigs are 5-12 mm thick. The leaves are arranged in spirals. They are 6-23 cm long by 5-23 cm wide. They are oval or heart shaped. The figs are in pairs in the axils of leaves. They are about 2 cm across. They have dense white or yellow hairs.
How to Grow
The pollinating wasp is Elisabethiella socotrensis (Mayr).
Names & Synonyms
Ituntu, Lenga, Mlera, Ndera
References (7)
- East African Herbarium records, 1981,
- Flora Zambesiaca. http://apps.kew.org/efloras
- Fowler, D. G., 2007, Zambian Plants: Their Vernacular Names and Uses. Kew. p 49
- Johns, T., Mhoro, E. B. and Sanaya, P., 1996, Food Plants and Masticants of the Batemi of Ngorongoro District, Tanzania. Economic Botany, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 115-121
- Kokwaro, J. O. and Johns. T., 1998, Luo Biological Dictionary. East African Educational Publishers. p 65
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 152
- www.figweb.org
