Site icon THE FIGS OF BORNEO

Ficus punctata: Male and female lianas sharing the same tree, Brunei

uluulublog

ABOVE: The large fig on the left attached to a root climbing liana  is an immature female Ficus punctata fig fruit.

The leaves next to the fig covering the trunk in a dense mat belong to a male Ficus punctata fig plant. Ficus puncata is one of the most common figs in Borneo. If you spend any time in the forest you will frequently see Ficus punctata leaves covering the trunk and branches  of large trees.

All photographs taken by Arlene Walshe at Selapon, in Temburong, Brunei.

This is an immature male Ficus punctata fig fruit. Male fig fruits are  smaller  and darker orange than female F. punctata fig fruits. The male figs are covered in pale spots and  have a short or absent stipe (the extension of the fruit that looks like a stalk or peduncle). Female F. punctata  fig fruits have a very obvious stipe.
The mat of dark leaves covering the trunk belongs to a male Ficus punctata. The straight white liana  attached to a fig on the left is a female Ficus punctata plant.
A close look at this photo will reveal two separate male Ficus punctata fig fruits growing amidst the dense mat of leaves. Each fruit is about the size of a small orange.
Both the Ficus punctata lianas were growing on this elderly tree covered in a mass of epiphytes  at Temada in Brunei.
Exit mobile version