Ficus stupenda growing on a limestone cliff next to the Kinabatangan River. This fig was first photographed on 24 December 2016 and appears almost unchanged 3 years later.
All photographs by Shuai LIAO taken on 18 September 2019. Collection #20190478. This site is approximately 10 minutes boat ride downstream of Kg Sukau.
Orange arrow: Ficus caulocarpa growing on the same limestone cliff.
Blue arrow: Ficus stupenda.
Orange arrow: Corky lenticels, a common feature of the bark on many Section Conosycea figs used for air exchange (breathing).
Blue arrow: White latex, a shared characteristic of two Bornean plant families, the Moraceae (Artocarpus (Terap), Antiaris (Ipoh) and Ficus) and Apocynacea, ( Hoya, Dyera (Jelutong) , Alstonia (Pulai).
Apocynacea are easily distinguished from Ficus because the leaves are nearly always opposite on the twigs whereas Ficus are only rarely opposite.