Illustration above Ficus tengerensis described as Ficus fistulosa in King (1888).
FICUS TENGERENSIS (Miq.) Kuntze (1891) SECTION SYCOCARPUS
Latin: From Tengger a volcanic mountain in east Java, part of the Tengger-Bromo-Semeru National Park.
Habit: Uncommon small tree in hill forest throughout Borneo. There are records from Kubah near Kuching but no records from Kalimantan where it almost certainly occurs.
Leaf: Consistently and distinctively smaller and thicker than the leaves of Ficus fistulosa. The leaves normally have 4-6 pairs of side veins whereas F. fistulosa leaves normally have 6-10 side veins. The leaves of both species have “weak” basal veins.
Fig Fruit: The small figs with curved peduncles hang individually from the trunk (cauliflorus) or from the branches (ramiflorus). The fig fruit are consistently smaller with relatively longer peduncles than the fig fruits of Ficus fistulosa. The female fig fruit of F. tengerensis are bright purple inside whereas the female fig fruit of F. fistulosa are red and the male fig fruits of F. fistulosa are yellow brown inside . The figs of Ficus fistulusa are normally grouped in bunches but hang individually with F. tengerensis.
Sex: Dioecious
Similar Species:
(1) Ficus fistulosa : See differences listed above
(2) Ficus globosa fig fruits grow in the leaf axils at the end of the twigs and are never cauliflorous. Ficus globosa petioles (leaf stalks) tend to be long and round whereas the petioles of F. tengerensis are short and grooved above.
Range: Borneo, Java, Malay Peninsula, South Thailand.
Taxonomy: Considered by many authors including King (1888), and Berg (2005) to be variety of Ficus fistulosa. However both species occur together in the same area and are consistently distinguishable by the smaller thicker leaves and smaller figs of Ficus tengerensis.
