Site icon THE FIGS OF BORNEO

Ficus macrostyla: Introduction

uluulublog

ABOVE: A female fig fruit of Ficus macrostyla photographed by Linus Gokusing  at Sg. Imbok, in the Kuamut District in Sabah. Unfortunately this fig is half rotten but you can still see the very long styles of the female flower that curve round the centre of the cavity.

Both in ecology and appearance this is Borneo’s most unusual fig, so the  descriptions of Berg (2005) and Corner (1978) including Corner’s drawings of both F. squamosa and F. macrostyla are provided in full below;

ABOVE: Berg’s 2005 text in full
Corner’s (1978) drawings of Ficus squamosa (left) and Ficus macrostyla (right)  Note the extreme length of the style of the female flower in comparison with other figs.
An excerpt of Corner’s (1978) article. See the full article below;

Corner (1978) F.dammaropsis and the multibracteate species of Ficus in Section Sycocarpus

 

Corner’s (1978) drawing of his conception of how the first figs developed. Corner suggests that F. macrostyla is a relic of one the world’s first and most primitive figs. 

See below for the latest ecological research of Ficus squamosa in N. Thailand

Pothasin, Compton and Wangpakapattanawong (2016) Ecology Ficus squamosa

 

Exit mobile version