STOLON FIG Ficus stolonifera King (1888)   SECTION SYCOCARPUS

Latin: From the long root like stolons that bear figs. The stolons may hang from the lower trunk or emerge at ground level creeping through the earth litter.

Habits: A small shrub to  large tree  of the forest understorey,  growing up to 27 m  tall at Lambir Park in N. Sarawak. Locally common at Lambir, Gunung Palung (West Kalimantan) and East Kutai (East Kalimantan) but rare in Sabah and Brunei.

Leaves: Large,  hairy, slightly asymmetric (uneven) leaves with toothed edges (dentate) typical of the earth figs found in Borneo.

Figs: Small, ripening white, green to reddish.

Distribution: Endemic to Borneo. The GBIF portal lists 27 herbarium collections.

Sabah: Has been collected at 1,200 m on Kinabalu at Ulu Liwagu/Ulu Mesilau , also in the Crocker Range and at Sepilok but generally very uncommon.

Brunei: One record from Sg Rampayoh, Labi Road.

Sarawak: The most common fig at Lambir in the 52 ha Smithsonian Plot with 780 records. Locally common at Kapit (Belaga) in central Sarawak but absent from the Kuching area.

Kalimantan: Locally common at Gunung Palung in West Kalimantan and  Kutai in East Kalimantan  but no records from SE Kalimantan.

Corner (1978) stolonifera and F.geocarpa ENHANCED.jpg
LEFT: Corner’s (1978) drawing of Ficus stolonifera (endemic to Borneo) compared with RIGHT: Ficus geocarpa (endemic to Sulawesi). Corner considered F. geocarpa a close relative of F. stolonifera.