Ficus odoardii, Tembagapura, Papua, New Guinea

Compared to Borneo the island of New Guinea is equally diverse in fig species.

Both islands host approximately 175 species of figs.

Tembagapura  (Copper town) is a mining town approx. 2,000m ASL in montane forest on the steep slopes slopes of Puncak Jaya (4,884 m) the highest mountain on the island of New Guinea.

New Guinea has more species of hairy root climbers in Section Rhizocladus  then Borneo.

The long hairs on the Rhizocladus figs in New Guinea  are often irritant and easily fall off the fig, presumably to stop seed predation by pigeons which predate the seeds.

This raises the question of how the seeds of these hairy figs are dispersed ?

Photos from iNATURALIST  under a Creative Commons License. See below.