SOEPADMO’S FIG Ficus soepadmoi Kochummen (1998) SECTION CONOSYCEAE
Latin: Named for the famous Indonesian botanist E. Soepadmo.
Plant: A rare Borneo endemic climber usually epiphytic.
Leaf: Large oblong leaf, 9-13 cm long x 2.8-3.7 cm wide with a petiole (leaf stalk) up to 1.5 cm long. The leaf is more or less revolute i.e. turned inward at the edges.
Fig: Small fig 0.6-0.8 cm, sessile (no stalk) in pairs in the leaf axils but often on the bare branches behind the leaves. The figs ripen green to yellow green. The dried figs in the herbarium have five longitudinal ridges on the figs. It is not known how prominent these ridges are in the fresh fig.
Similar species: A close relative of and very similar to Ficus lowii which is confined to Malaya. Split by Kochummen (1998). Confirmed by Berg (2005). According to Berg “This species (F. soepadmoi is closely related to F. lowii, from which it differs in the smaller leaves and figs and the brown covered areoles of the lamina beneath”
See also our article on Ficus corneri on this website
Check also Ficus acamptophylla a common coastal fig likely to be found in similar locations and with similar looking figs when they are unripe.
Distinguish: By the waxy, shiny, smooth upper surface of the leaf and the pale grey underside of the leaf which is distinctive for Ficus lowii and Ficus soepadmo.
Distribution: A rare fig endemic to a small area of west Borneo from Beaufort south to Lanjak Entimau in Sarawak. Locally common at Lambir where the TYPE was collected at Ulu Sg. Lebau by Ilias Paie & Yeo Eng Teck S 38376. In Sabah, collected in a logging area at Ulu Sg. Lingkungan near Beaufort in W. Sabah.
There is only one record from Brunei from Bukit Belalong (Ulu Temburong) on a ridge at 817 m as illustrated at the top of this page.
