FICUS KUCHINENSIS Berg (2003) SECTION SYCIDIUM
Latin: Refers to the fact that this fig is found at the Semengoh Arboretum near Kuching.
Habit: A rare endemic small shrub or epiphytic climber previously regarded as a hairy variety of Ficus heteropleura.
Leaf: Medium 7-20 cm long by 2-6 cm wide with a rough sand-paper feel to both sides. The leaves are in flat sprays (distichous) not spirally arranged.
Sex: Dioecious.
Fig: The tiny figs (0.5-0.8 cm) grow in the leaf axils or behind the leaves. The figs hang from short stipitate peduncles up to 0.2 cm long and are covered in hairs.
Ecology: A very rare bird dispersed epiphyte locally common near Kuching.
Similar species: Previously described as a hairy variety of F. heteropleura by Corner (1965).
Berg (2003) splits F. kuchinensis from F. heteropleura
Distinguish from F. heteropleura by the tiny figs with a short peduncle (stalk). The figs have a pointed apex (umbonate) surrounding a sunken ostiole. Overall much more hairy than Ficus heteropleura.
Distribution: A very rare fig but probably under recorded. The Leiden Herbarium NATURALIS has nine collections, 3 of them from the Semengoh Arboretum near Kuching, 2 more from W Sarawak, 2 from Bukit Bendera, (Beaufort Hill), West Sabah, one from Bukit Baka in West Kalimantan and one from the INIKEA reforestation project near Tawau in Sabah.
