This deciduous fig tree poking up among the island vegetation is the first record of a wild fig in Section Malvanthera that has naturally crossed from east to west across Wallace’s line. Section Malvanthera figs are confined to the Pacific Islands and Australia. Ficus glandifera is growing wild and reproducing on the Derawan Islands group off the coast of East Kalimantan. So far it has been found on Pulau Sangkalaki (illustrated above and below) and Pulau Maratua. According to Berg & Corner (2005) the distribution of Ficus glandifera extends from the Solomon Islands in the Pacific to SE Sulawesi from where it probably reached Borneo with the aid of Island Flying Foxes.
Island flying Foxes Pteropus hymomelanus are common on the Derawan Islands and are important dispersers of fig seeds between islands.
