DISTICHOUS FIG Ficus disticha Blume (1825) SECTION:KALOSYCE
Latin: Distichous-the leaves arranged in two alternate flat planes.
Plant: Root climber up tree trunks. Most common in the mountains and in peat swamp forest. The medium size leaves are considerably larger than the small figs. Bathyphyll leaves may be asymmetric, whilst the acrophyll leaves are usually symmetric.
Leaf: 1-5cm long x 0.5-5.5 cm wide.
Sex: Dioecious.
Fig: The small figs (0.3-1cm) grow individually in the leaf axils on a short peduncle (stalk) up to 0.5cm long. Figs ripen green to yellow to brown to purple.
Similar species: Similar to Ficus apiocara but the leaves of F. apiocarpa are much larger.
Distinguish: from Ficus apiocarpa by the smaller figsand much smaller leaves.
Distribution: Common on Kinabalu up to 2,200m, where it is the second commonest root climber after Ficus recurva and the 8th commonest fig overall. (Beaman 2004). Also found in peat swamp forest throughout the lowlands of Borneo. Anderson (1963) describes F. callicarpides (a synonym for F.disticha) as being abundant on the buttresses of Shorea albida dipterocarps occasionally reaching the canopy in the peat swamp forests of Sarawak including Batang Lupar, Rajang Delta and Baram.
Range: Myanmar south to the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Philippines and Sulawesi. Never recorded in Singapore.
