Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Ficus altissima

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Kingdom
  
Plantae

Family
  
Moraceae

Genus
  
Ficus

Higher classification
  
Fig

Order
  
Rosales

Tribe
  
Ficeae

Scientific name
  
Ficus altissima

Rank
  
Species

Ficus altissima Ficus altissima Council Tree TopTropicalscom

Similar
  
Ficus virens var sublanceolata, Fig, Moraceae, Ficus microcarpa, Weeping fig

Ficus altissima the council tree


Ficus altissima, commonly known as the council tree, is a species of flowering plant, a fig tree in the family Moraceae. It is a large, stately evergreen tree and is native to southeastern Asia.

Contents

Ficus altissima GardensOnline Ficus altissima

Description

Ficus altissima Flora of Mozambique Cultivated species information individual

Ficus altissima is a large, evergreen forest tree with a buttressed trunk and a spreading crown, growing to 30 m (98 ft). The bark is smooth and grey, with small pale brown pustules. The branches are spreading and the twigs are hairy and often green when young. The leaves are alternate, elliptic to ovate, with entire margins and up to 100 by 40 mm (3.9 by 1.6 in). They are supported on short stalks and have sheathing stipules. The flowers are solitary or in pairs and are in the axils of the leaves. They are concealed inside hollow receptacles which grow into orangish-red, many-seeded. 25 mm (1 in) figs following pollination.

Distribution

Ficus altissima httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Ficus altissima is native to southeastern Asia and many islands in the Pacific. Its range includes the Andaman Islands, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, South China and the Malesia region. It was first described by the Dutch botanist Carl Ludwig Blume in 1826 from Java. It has become naturalized in some of the southern counties of Florida.

Common Names

Vernacular names include:

  • Chinese: 高山榕 gao shan rong
  • Vietnamese: đa tía (sometimes đa rất cao: i.e. "very tall")
  • Ecology

    Ficus altissima Ficus altissima variegated Glasshouse Works

    Ficus altissima is a "strangler fig", often starting life as an epiphyte, frequently on a palm tree, sending down roots to the ground which in time grow stout enough to support the growing tree independently. By this time the host tree has been overwhelmed and killed. It can also grow as a lithophyte in a crevice in a rock or a man made structure. It is sometimes planted as a shade tree but has a wide root system and is unsuitably large for most urban areas.

    Ficus altissima Ficus altissima Images Useful Tropical Plants

    Ficus altissima is one of many trees that hosts lac insects, scale insects in the superfamily Coccoidea, from which the dye lac is obtained. It has been planted in southern Florida, where it didn't used to seed because there weren't any native insects available to pollinate the flowers. However, non-native wasps (Eupristina sp.), that have become established in the area, seems capable of pollinating it and the tree is now proliferating and becoming invasive.

    Ficus altissima Ficus altissima Images Useful Tropical Plants

    References

    Ficus altissima Wikipedia