HIPPY FIG Ficus androchaete Corner (1960) SECTION: ERIOSYCEA
Greek: Long haired male referring to the hairy stamens (male flowers).
Habit: Small tree or shrub to 10m. Widespread in wet lowland and hill forest in SW Sabah, Brunei, N. Sarawak and NE Kalimantan.
Leaf: 11-26cm long x 3.5-9.5 cm wide.
Sex: Dioecious.
Fig: The small figs (0.8-1.4 cm) grow individually in the leaf axils on a peduncle (stalk) up to 1.1cm long. Figs ripen green to yellow to orange.
Similar species: .F. subfulva is a small tree with very similar leaves and figs.
Distinguish: (1) By differences in the basal lateral veins unbranched and running parallel and close to the leaf margin in F. androchaete and usually faintly branched (almost) straight and not running parallel and close to the leaf margin in F. subfulva (Berg (2005)
(2) The hairs of the stipules are brown in F. subfulva but yellowish in F. androchaete” Berg (2005).
Distribution: A scarce but widespread endemic in the hills of W Borneo from the Crocker Range in Sabah south to Ulu Baleh ,Sarawak and the Kayan Mentarang NP in NE Kalimantan. Most common in the hills of Brunei and N. Sarawak.
Sabah: Lumaku FR (Beaufort), Ulu Kimanis, Sipitang.
Brunei: Common at Kuala Belalong, Ulu Temburong.
Sarawk: Common at Mulu-Melinau Gorge, Sg, Lansat south to Kapit.
Kalimantan: Maruwai NE Kalimantan, Bukit Raya.
