Ficus socrotana is a one of the worlds rarest figs endemic to the island of Socotra -politically part of Yemen.
Socotra is a largely uninhabited desert island approx. 130 km x 30 km wide with small patches of dry forest in the rocky mountains on the north east coast.
The closest relatives are Ficus vasta of NE Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (considered by some botanists to be con-specific) and Ficus sycomorus a common savannah fig throughout East Africa.
Nothing is known about the ecology, but thin flaky bark on fig trees often indicates a mutualistic relationship with ants which feed on the bark and defend the fig tree against leaf eating insects.
Other figs in the Princess of Wales Conservatory include a Ficus villosa sourced from Sabah which fruits prolifically, a Ficus hispida which also fruits almost continuously and a Ficus maclellandii periodically mislabelled as Ficus binnendijkii.
