(PHOTO ABOVE) A fruiting Ficus punctata liana growing on a Dipterocarp tree by the side of the access road to the Maliau Study Centre in central Sabah.

Photo by Miyabi Nakabayashi

THIS SITE IS AN INTRODUCTION TO ALL THE 150+ SPECIES OF FIGS that are found growing wild on the island of Borneo and their ecology. Along with New Guinea,  Borneo hosts one of the world’s richest  and most diverse fig floras. The figs of Borneo include tall trees, giant stranglers, small bushy epiphytes and 22 species of root climbing lianas that grow up from the ground high into the forest canopy.

The taxonomy used on this website is based  on Berg & Corner (2005) Flora Malesiana Moraceae- Ficus

With some taxonomic updates 

BOTANISTS DIVIDE THE NATIVE BORNEO FIG SPECIES INTO 15 SECTIONS. In this overview we illustrate an example of a fig plant from each SECTION below. In addition we include two introduced ornamental figs Ficus lyrata  and Ficus natalensis both native to West Africa in Section Galgolychia  which are often planted in Borneo.

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SECTION CONOSYCEA: Jejawi Fig. Ficus microcarpa  growing over the sea on Pulau Kakaban off the coast of East Kalimantan, Borneo. Notice the slender roots dangling above the waves. Ficus microcarpa is one of 36 species of  SECTION CONOSYCEA stranglers found in Borneo. Conosycea stranglers target a very wide range of dispersers including primary dispersers such as birds, primates, civets and fruit bats and secondary dispersers such as ants.
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SECTION ERIOSYCEA: There are 20 species of SECTION ERIOSYCEA figs found in  forest gaps and along roadsides throughout Borneo. They are mostly small trees with large hairy leaves and hairy figs. A  high proportion are endemics found only in the hills. This photo shows 2 species F. endospermifolia (left) and F. eumorpha (right)  growing together on the summit of Gunung Alab (1,964 m) in the Crocker Range, Sabah. The most likely dispersers of  the two species illustrated above are civets, pigs and  the Sumatran Rhinoceros which was once abundant in Borneo.
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SECTION FICUS: Ficus deltoidea is one of only two SECTION FICUS species native to Borneo. Borneo.  The  second species is Ficus oleifolia.   Ficus carica the edible fig is  also in  Section Ficus but does not occur wild in Borneo. Ficus deltoidea typically grows as a small epiphytic bush, here high in a canopy sky garden at the Belalong Canopy Walkway in Brunei. Ficus deltoidea is dispersed by flowerpeckers.
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SECTION KALOSYCE: Ficus punctata is one of 14 species of  SECTION KALOSYCE root climbing figs found in Borneo. Both the leaves and the adult figs are usually smooth  without hairs-however young figs are often hairy. The figs  are often larger than the small leaves which adhere tightly to and cover the surface of  the host tree. Ficus punctata is dispersed by primates and civets.
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SECTION OREOSYCEA: Ficus callosa is one of 5 Bornean fig trees in SECTION OREOSYCEA. All Oreosycea figs have tall straight white trunks with few branches, no hanging roots and relatively large leaves. Most species are rare, F. callosa is  locally common on river floodplains in Sabah. This individual was growing next to the Tuaran River, near Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Ficus callosa is dispersed by fruit bats and civets.
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SECTION RHIZOCLADUS: Ficus villosa is one of 14 SECTION RHIZOCLADUS fig species in Borneo. All SECTION RHIZOCLADUS figs are root climbers which branch and fruit only when they reach sunlight in the canopy. Both the large leaves and small figs are usually covered in dense hairs. Photo taken in the Princess of Wales Conservatory at Kew Gardens, UK where this female  F. villosa liana fruits frequently. The figs are dispersed by birds, primates and civets.
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SECTION SYCIDIUM: Ficus  tinctoria var gibbosa is one of 26 SECTION SYCIDIUM figs in Borneo. Most sycidiums are common epiphytic shrubs of the forest understorey. Some may develop into small trees. The figs ripen red to  orange and are very popular with  small birds such as bulbuls and starlings. Ficus  tinctoria var gibbosa grows on many trees and buildings around Kota Kinabalu in Sabah.
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SECTION SYCOCARPUS  (Earth Figs) These large leaves on a medium sized roadside bush  or small tree are typical of the 8 species of  SECTION SYCOCARPUS EARTH FIGS found in Borneo. To be certain that it is an “earth fig”  check the base of the trunk for the long root like stolons which bear dark red figs covered in hooked bracts at ground level. The figs are dispersed by rats, pigs and deer and are predated by partridges and pheasants.
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SECTION SYCOCARPUS (Cauliferous figs). This Ficus sattertwaitei is one of 17 species of SECTION SYCOCARPUS figs which are mostly small trees of the forest edge that bear large bunches of cauliferous figs on the trunk. The figs are dispersed by palm civets and small fruit bats.
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SECTION SYCOMORUS: This Ficus racemosa is one of 3 species of SECTION SYCOMORUS in Borneo. F. racemosa is a common tree of riverbanks and floodplains throughout Borneo.  The main dispersers are fish but the  ripe figs are also eaten by primates, bats, civets and occasionally rhinoceros hornbills. The other two SECTION SYCOMORUS  figs in Borneo, are Ficus auriculata  is an introduced orchard fig occasionally cultivated in Borneo, and Ficus variegata a common tall tree found both in secondary and virgin forests.
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SECTION UROSTIGMA: This Ficus caulocarpa  growing at Tg Aru beach, Kota Kinabalu is one of 6 species of  large stranglers in SECTION UROSTIGMA found in Borneo. Urostigma figs are identified by their distinctive leaves with a long leaf stalk and a hinge on the underside of the leaf at the joint between the leaf blade (lamina) and the leaf stalk (petiole). The small fig fruits are ramiflorus growing in dense clusters along the bare branches. and are mainly dispersed by small birds. Some of the largest strangling fig trees in Borneo are in SECTION UROSTIGMA.
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SECTION: MALVANTHERA  Malvanthera figs evolved in Australia and are widespread in eastern Indonesia and the Pacific Islands. Only one species reaches extreme eastern Borneo Ficus glandifera.  The figs sit in cups like acorns which makes F. glandifera easy to recognize. So far F. glandifera has only been found on the remote islands of Pulau Maratua and Pulau Sangkalaki,  part of the Derawan Islands off the coast of East Kalimantan.

 

 

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SECTION: STILPNOPHYLLUM.  Ficus elastica  is the only Bornean fig species in Section: Stilpnophyllum. Ficus elastica originates in the Himalayas has never been recorded as growing wild in Borneo. All individuals so far recorded  are sterile and have been propagated by cuttings, although they may occasionally produce seedless fig fruit. This individual was planted in Prince Philip Park, Tg Aru, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.  Ficus elastica is often grown as a house or office plant throughout the world, when it is called a Rubber Plant. ( The rubber trees  Hevea brasiliensis grown in commercial plantations all over Borneo  originated in the Brazilian Amazon and are not native to Borneo. Neither are they figs) . NOTE: Following DNA studies by Ronsted et al Ficus elastica has been allocated to Section Conosycea.
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SECTION BOSCHERIA: Ficus minahasae is a common fig throughout the Philippines and in Northern Sulawesi  but is a rare immigrant to Borneo with only  a few  records all from east Sabah in the forests surrounding Darvel Bay.

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Ficus lyrata an ornamental fig which originated in West Africa is commonly planted in landscaping schemes in Borneo. The figs ripen large and green but are sterile. Ficus lyrata is one of only two species  of figs in SECTION GALOGLYCHIA  which can be found in Borneo. The other species is Ficus natalensis.