Ficus padana
Burm.f.
(c) Syahlan Kholiq, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Syahlan Kholiq
(c) onidiras-iNaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by onidiras-iNaturalist
(c) onidiras-iNaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by onidiras-iNaturalist
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The fruit is eaten.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. It grows in West Java and Sumatra. It grows from the lowlands to 1,500 m above sea level.
Asia, Indonesia, SE Asia,
How to Identify
A fig. It is a tree. It grows 13 m tall. It has a few branches. The trunk is 30 cm across. The fruit is a flattened round shape and 4-6 cm across.
How to Grow
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
A wax is obtained from the plant. It has been recommended for use in batik work. A fibre obtained from the bark is used to make rope.
Names & Synonyms
Dedek, Hamberang, Kebeg
References (2)
- Priyadi, H., et al, 2010, Five hundred plant species in Gunung Halimun Salak National Park West Java. A checklist including Sundanese names, distribution and use. CIFOR, FFPRI, SLU p 39
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
