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Ficus caulocarpa: Maratua, Derawan Islands, Kalimantan

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ABOVE: Google satellite view of the coral atolls of Pulau Maratua and Pulau Kakaban, East Kalimantan.

Pulau Maratua  and the smaller Pulau Kakaban are two of the 31 Derawan Islands off the coast of East Kalimantan. These islands were originally the cones of extinct volcanoes. Coral reefs  grew on the cones as the land sank eventually resulting in atolls. The largest island Maratua has a unique fauna and flora with at least two endemic birds and many endemic plants. There is a rich fig flora including Ficus glandifera and Ficus prasinicarpa which are very rare elsewhere in Borneo.

View of Maratua island from the Maratua Paradise Dive Resort. Note the coconut plantation opposite the resort. The coconut palms  provide flower nectar for Flying Foxes and roosting sites for Glossy Starlings.  Both these animals are very fond of figs. We found  the saplings of 5 different fig species growing on the root balls  of the coconuts in the plantation. In order of abundance    (1)  Ficus microcarpa    (2) Ficus septica   (3) Ficus annulata   (4) Ficus glandifera (5) Ficus caulocarpa. In addition we found 4  further species of figs elsewhere on  Maratua and Kakaban (6) Ficus tinctoria var tinctoria   (7) Ficus prasinicarpa  (8)Ficus globosa (9) Ficus heterophylla. 
Maratua beach at low tide
A Bajau fishing village, Kampung Payung Payung on Pulau Maratua. In 2013 there were no roads  and no cars on Maratua only some basic motorbike tracks.
This is an old coconut stump with two fig saplings growing on the old root ball. Ficus caulocarpa (left) and Ficus microcarpa (right).

Ficus caulocarpa sapling growing on a coconut stump on Maratua. Note the long red  petioles (leaf stalks), typical of Ficus caulocarpa. 

Figs in Section Urostigma such as F. caulocarpa and F. virens typically have long petioles (leaf stalks) and a hinge at the junction of the petiole and the leaf. Note the triangular “hinge” on the underside of this  F. caulocarpa leaf ( left) .
Island Flying fox  Pteropus hypomelanus roosting in a coconut plantation on Maratua. Island Flying Foxes feed mostly on coconut flower nectar and figs and are important dispersers of fig seeds between the islands around Borneo and elsewhere in SE Asia.
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