For many years Ficus pellucidopunctata was known as Ficus gelderi (Miquel 1867). Geld is the German name for gold and this fig was named the “Golden Fig” because herbarium specimens of the leaves dry a shiny golden brown. Ficus subglderi leaves also dry a shiny golden brown and “subgelderi” means “similar to Ficus gelderi. The leaves of these two fig species can be distinguished from each other because the side veins are less numerous and more prominent in Ficus subgelderii.
The Maliau Basin is in the centre of Sabah just north of the border with Kalimantan. A recently designated forest protection order connects the Maliau Basin with fully protected forest at the Imbak Canyon and Danum Valley.