Ficus cavernicola is very rare in herbarium collections but locally common around the Kinabalu Park buildings at Mesilau climbing up the forest trees surrounding the clearing. For example 3 out of the four trees on the RHS of the photograph above, are covered in root climbing Ficus cavernicola lianas both juvenile and adult.
Taxonomy: F. cavernicola was described by CC Berg in 2003 as a Kinabalu endemic but is obviously a synonym for Ficus tulipifera which was described by Corner in 1939 from a collection by Carr from the Tenompok Pass near Kinabalu Park HQ and therefore has priority as a scientific name. This means that in the future the fig we now know as Ficus cavernicola will likely become F. tulipifera whilst the fig species currently known as Ficus tulipifera will require a new name. The photo below shows that the juvenile (bathyphyll) leaves almost exactly match the adult (acrophyll) leaves which is unusual with Section Kalosyce root climbers on Borneo.
