Ficus disticha, a common root climbing fig most common in peat-swamp and mountain forests here photographed by Jean-Yves Rasplus at Pa Lugan in the Bario Highlands of NE Sarawak in 2007.
Root-climbing figs only fruit when they reach the sunlit canopy so photos of fruiting branches are normally very difficult to obtain.
The main leaf vein (mid-rib) and side veins (lateral) both of which are pale green/ white are easy to distinguish in this photograph. Berg (2005) describes the tertiary veins between the side veins as “tessellate” or “tiled in squares” a distinguishing feature of Ficus disticha and Ficus detonsa.
Pa Lugan is in the Bario Highlands in far NE Sarawak next to the border with Kalimantan.
