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Synonyms: |
Ficus kirkii Hutch. |
Common names: | Crown-fruited fig (English) |
Frequency: | Local |
Status: | Native |
Description: |
Small to large evergreen tree. Bark fairly smooth, cream to pale brown, flaking in older specimens. Leaves very stiff and leathery, oblong-elliptic or somewhat obovate, 7-20 cm long, rather dull dark-green above, paler below, hairless; veins prominent and yellowish below with dense net-veining conspicuous; apex rounded with a short broad point; margin entire, often rolled under. Fruit singly or in pairs in the leaf axils, mostly spherical, 15-20 mm in diameter, ± hairless or minutely pubescent, normally with a few scattered tubercles and crowned with a prominent, nipple-like ostiole, green when ripe. |
Notes: | |
Derivation of specific name: | scassellatii : after G. Scassellati-Sforzolini, Italian Botanist, who collected in Somalia between 1911 and 1929 |
Habitat: | In submontane evergreen forest, normally starting as a hemi-epiphytic strangler. |
Altitude range: (metres) | 400 - 1950 m |
Flowering time: | Feb - Jun |
Worldwide distribution: | DRC, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania (including Pemba Island), Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Recorded in three forests on the Zambian Nyika by Dowsett-Lemaire (1985). |
Zimbabwe distribution: | E |
Growth form(s): | Tree. |
Endemic status: | |
Red data list status: | Vulnerable |
Insects associated with this species: | |
Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
Images last updated: | Sunday 25 February 2007 |
Literature: |
Berg, C.C. (1991). Moraceae Flora Zambesiaca 9(6) Pages 75 - 76. As Ficus scassellatii Burrows, J.E. & Burrows, S.M. (2003). Figs of Southern and South-Central Africa Umdaus Press, South Africa Pages 142 - 144. (Includes a picture). Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 215. as Ficus scassellatii Burrows, J.E., Burrows, S.M., Lötter, M.C. & Schmidt, E. (2018). Trees and Shrubs Mozambique Publishing Print Matters (Pty), Cape Town. Page 87. As Ficus scassellatii (Includes a picture). Coates Palgrave, K. (revised and updated by Meg Coates Palgrave) (2002). Trees of Southern Africa 3rd edition. Struik, South Africa Pages 148 - 149. Dowsett-Lemaire, F. (1985). The forest vegetation of the Nyika Plateau (Malawi-Zambia): ecological and phenological studies. Bull. Jard. Bot. Nat. Belg. / Bull. Nat. Plantentuin Belg. 55 (3/4) Dowsett-Lemaire, F. (1989). The flora and phytogeography of the evergreen forests of Malawi. I: Afromontane and mid-altitude forests; Bull. Jard. Bot. Nat. Belg. 59(1/2) Page 18. As Ficus kirkii Drummond, R.B. (1975). A list of trees, shrubs and woody climbers indigenous or naturalised in Rhodesia. Kirkia 10(1) Page 234. As Ficus kirkii Golding, J.S. (ed.) (2002). Zimbabwe Plant Red Data List. Southern African Plant Red Data Lists. SABONET 14 Page 166. Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 63. Strugnell, A.M. (2006). A Checklist of the Spermatophytes of Mount Mulanje, Malawi Scripta Botanica Belgica 34 National Botanic Garden of Belgium Page 124. |
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