''Ficus abutilifolia'', the large-leaved rock fig,
is a species of African rock-splitting
fig
The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...
that occurs in two disjunct regions, one population north, and another south of the equator. The two populations are pollinated by different fig wasps, and are morphologically distinct.
It is named for the similarity of its broadly ovate leaves to that of ''
Abutilon''.
[ It is virtually restricted to cliff faces and rock outcrops, and is easily recognized from its large, glabrous leaves and smooth, pale bark.
]
Species associations
'' Nigeriella fusciceps'' Wiebes is the pollinating wasp for the northern population, and '' Elisabethiella comptoni'' Wiebes pollinates the southern population.[ '' Philocaenus rotundus'' is an associated but non-pollinating wasp.][
]
Gallery
Ficus abutilifolia, loof, Roodekrans.jpg, Foliage of a southern specimen
Ficus abutilifolius MS 10387.jpg, Foliage of a northern specimen
Ficus abutilifolia, vye, a, Pretoria.jpg, Fig arrangement
Ficus abutilifolia01.jpg, Bark texture
Large-leaved Rock Fig (Ficus abutilifolia) roots (16025195933).jpg, Roots on granite, Kruger National Park
Ficus abutilifolia02.jpg, Branches and roots, Magaliesberg
The Magaliesberg (historically also known as ''Macalisberg'' or ''Cashan Mountains'') of northern South Africa, is a modest but well-defined mountain range composed mainly of quartzites. It rises at a point south of the Pilanesberg (and the Pi ...
References
External links
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q15261084
Trees of Africa
abutilifolia
Taxa named by Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel