''Ficus sur'', with the common names Cape fig and broom cluster fig,The etymology of the specific name is unclear. It may be of

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

origin and suggest

Sur, Oman Sur () is the capital city of Ash Sharqiyah South Governorate, and the former capital of Ash Sharqiyah Region in northeastern Oman, on the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It is located about southeast of the Omani capital Muscat. Historically, the ci ...

, where it is not native. is a widespread

Afrotropical The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

species of cauliflorous fig.

Distribution

The tree is found from

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

and

Senegambia The Senegambia (other names: Senegambia region or Senegambian zone,Barry, Boubacar, ''Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade'', (Editors: David Anderson, Carolyn Brown; trans. Ayi Kwei Armah; contributors: David Anderson, American Council of Le ...

across tropical

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

and the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

; eastwards to

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

, northern

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

and

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

; and southwards through all tropical eastern and southern African countries. It is not found in

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

or the dry interior regions of

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

, or

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is found in tropical forests and grassy woodlands, and occurs in higher densities within well-watered, temperate upland habitats. It is absent or outnumbered at lower, warmer climates by the similarly cauliflorous species, ''

Ficus sycomorus ''Ficus sycomorus'', called the sycamore fig or the fig-mulberry (because the leaves resemble those of the mulberry), sycamore, or sycomore, is a ficus, fig species that has been cultivated since ancient times. Etymology and naming The spec ...

''. In cooler climates it is a coastal tree, and in warmer interior climates may be found up to in elevation. Over its extensive range it is variable with respect to leaf shape, texture of the leaves and figs, deciduousness and overall size.

Description

left, 150px, Nature printed leaf, showing shape and venation ''Ficus sur'' is a fast-growing, deciduous or evergreen tree. It usually grows from in height, but may attain a height of . Large specimens develop a massive spreading crown, fluted trunks, and

buttress root Buttress roots, also known as plank roots or stilt roots, are large, wide roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted tree. Typically, they are found in nutrient-poor tropical forest soils that may not be very deep. They may prevent the tree from fa ...

s. The large, alternate and spirally arranged leaves are ovate to elliptic with irregularly serrated margins. Fresh foliage is a conspicuous red colour and the papery, 1 cm long

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...

s are soon dropped. The bark of younger trees is smooth and pale greyish-white in colour, in contrast to the flaky, yellow bark of ''F. sycomorus''. With increasing age the bark becomes darker and rough. The figs are carried on short or long drooping spurs (or fascicles) which may emerge from surface roots, the trunk or especially from lower main branches. The figs are 2–4 cm in diameter and acquire a rosy, speckled exterior when ripe. The fig seeds are dispersed after passing through the intestinal tracts of birds,

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

s, and

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

Species associations

Lepidopteran larvae of the African map butterfly, fig tree moth, accented hawk moth, specious tiger, common fig-tree blue and lesser fig-tree blue feed on the leaves or roots of this species. Pollination is performed by three species of '' Ceratosolen'' wasp. The ''Ceratosolen'' wasps are parasitised by '' Apocrypta guineensis'' and '' Sycoscapter niger'' wasps during their larval development inside the flower

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or war ...

s. As of 2006, 19 species of

fig wasp Fig wasps are wasps of the superfamily Chalcidoidea which spend their larval stage inside fig syconia. Some are pollinators but others simply feed off the plant. The non-pollinators belong to several groups within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, ...

were known to associate with the Cape fig, these belonging to genera '' Acophila'', '' Apocrypta'', '' Apocryptophagus'', '' Ceratosolen'', '' Eukoebelea'', '' Idarnes'', '' Sycomacophila'', '' Sycophaga'', '' Sycophila'', '' Sycoscapter'' and '' Watshamiella''. The Afrotropical fig wasp fauna is however poorly known.

Uses

The figs are edible and utilized in fresh or dried form by native people in many regions. They are also suited to preparation of fig preserve, if other suitable fruit are added. The heavily clustered figs suggest fecundity, and some trees in

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

have been venerated as sacred shrines in

animist Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...

practices. The wood is light and soft, and is not much used commercially.

Traditional medicinal plant

All parts may exude a

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latices are found in nature, but synthetic latices are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a wikt:milky, milky fluid, which is present in 10% of all floweri ...

, which has some traditional

medicinal plant Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including Plant defense against h ...

uses. The latex has been shown to contain ursene and oleanane triterpenoids, of which the latter may be effective in cancer treatment, while a

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical compound and the simplest aliphatic Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with the chemical formula (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often ab ...

ic extract from the roots is potentially effective against chloroquine-resistant

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

Gallery

Image:Ficus sur, vars winterblare, Louwsburg.jpg, Fresh foliage tended by ''

Crematogaster ''Crematogaster'' is an ecologically diverse genus of ants found worldwide, which are characterised by a distinctive heart-shaped gaster (insect anatomy), gaster (abdomen), which gives them one of their common names, the Saint Valentine ant. Mem ...

'' ants Image:Ficus sur 69922396.jpg, Drooping paniculate

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...

with fig clusters Image:Ceratosolen capensis op Ficus sur, Jan Celliers Park, a.jpg, '' Ceratosolen capensis'' adult, a pollinating wasp Image:Apocrypta guineensis, volw-wyfie op F sur, Manie vd Schijff BT, l.jpg, '' Apocrypta guineensis'' wasps,

parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...

s of ''Ceratosolen capensis'' larvae

References

Notes

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2484621 sur Trees of Africa Flora of the Afrotropical realm Flora of Yemen Plants described in 1775 Plants used in traditional African medicine Garden plants of Africa Ornamental trees