Ficus malayana (orange arrow pointing to a small tree)  is a pioneer species  which quickly colonizes bare land in forested areas. In this case the  site is an old landslide next to the Kota Kinabalu-Tambunan road at c. 1,500 m  asl in the Crocker Range.  Notice the abundance of  wild bananas and gingers in the photo which are also mammal dispersed pioneer plants, often found on landslips.

On the right hand side of the photo above note the Chinese shrine to datuks (local forest spirits). The shrine  was erected by long distance lorry drivers  after a series of bad accidents along this stretch of  mountain road.

05 Ficus malayana IMG_7056
Note the mist. Most of the Crocker Range above 1200 m is below the cloud layer by  mid afternoon. The result is  very wet cloud forest. Generally earth figs are most common in very wet forest with above average rainfall. 

 

03 Ficus malayana IMG_7078

02 Ficus malayana IMG_7095.JPG
From the few  white male flowers (stamens and anthers) around the ostiole this is a male fig from a male tree. The numerous yellow  egg like ovaries are the brood chambers of  fig wasps which have yet to emerge and fly off to pollinate other  figs.

04 Ficus malayana IMG_7083.JPG

06 Ficus malayana male IMG_7091.JPG