The photo shows  an example of a very common root climbing liana in Borneo a  Micrechites species in the APOCYNACEAE plant family.

In my experience Micrechites root climbers are the most common plants mistaken for figs in Borneo.

There are some 15,000 plant species in Borneo, of which at least some  500+ species are lianas including some 20 species of root climbing figs.

Most of these root climbing figs  have two types of leaves , bathyphylls  (when climbing a tree trunk) and acrophylls on fruiting branches when they reach sunlight in the canopy.

Because botanical collectors usually don’t waste time collecting plants which are sterile (not fruiting or flowering) the bathyphyll leaves of many of Borneo’s figs are still unrecorded and currently unknown in herbariums and therefore unknown to science.

By following the simple steps listed below  you will be able to tell immediately from the leaves alone if you have found the bathyphyll leaves of a root climbing fig or not.

  1. Break a single leaf from the liana. Is there any latex?. All figs produce latex. So if there is no latex the plant can not be a fig.
  2. If there is latex oozing from the break, check if the leaves on the liana are opposite each other or alternate.
  3. If the leaves are opposite (as with Micrechites)  then it cannot be a fig.
  4. No root climbing figs in Borneo have opposite leaves.
  5.  So you have found a root climbing liana  with alternate leaves that produces latex. You almost certainly have found a fig. But just to be sure carry out two more checks.
  6.  The growing point of all figs are covered by a sharp pointed STIPULE.  No stipule- it is unlikely to be a fig.
  7. The undersurface of  the leaves of all  root climbing figs in Borneo have distinctive  patterns usually either  TESSELLATE or FOVEOLATE  which are easy to recognize.
  8. To confirm your identification enter  BATHYPHYL in the search box on this website  and check the results.