Ficus copiosa Steud.

Moraceae

Steudel, E.G. von (1840) Nomenclator Botanicus 1: 635. Type: S E Asia (?).

Fig; Plentiful Fig; Fig, Plentiful

Not a strangling fig. Blaze odour resembling that of rotten tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum). Bark exudate clear but usually turning brownish or pinkish brown on exposure. Yellow or pale brown fibrous stripes in the blaze.

Leaf blades rather large, about 10-25 x 5-12 cm. Petioles produce a watery milky exudate. Small prickles on the leaf blade impart a sandpapery feel, more obvious on the upper surface. Petioles also sandpapery. Leafy twigs about 0.3-0.8 cm diam. Stipules about 0.5-1.5 cm long.

Tepals long and narrow, pink when fresh, apices with bristle-like hairs. Male flowers produced around the ostiole. Stigma pink when fresh and receptive. Lateral bracts present on the outside of the fig body.

Figs pedunculate, depressed globular, about 30-40 x 40-50 mm. Seeds smooth. Orifice +/- closed by interlocking apical and internal bracts.

Cotyledons orbicular, about 3-4 mm diam. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade ovate to elliptic, apex acute, base obtuse or auriculate, margin dentate, teeth evenly spaced along the margin, midrib raised on the upper surface, upper surface sandpapery because of short bristle-like hairs; oil dots very small, just visible with a lens; stipules narrowly triangular, papery; petiole and stem clothed in bristle-like hairs. Seed germination time 21 to 29 days.

Occurs in CYP, NEQ and CEQ. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 800 m. Grows in well developed rain forest on a variety of sites but is probably more common in some of the drier more seasonal areas. Also occurs in Malesia, the Solomon Islands and other Pacific islands.

Fruit eaten by Cassowaries. Cooper & Cooper (1994).

Ficus copiosa var. pubescens Corner, The Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 17 : 455(1960), Type: New Guinea: Kostermans 310 (typus, herb. Leiden). Ficus magnifolia F.Muell., Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae 4: 50(1863), Type: In monte Elliot. Fitzalan et Dallachy. Ficus mourilyanensis F.M.Bailey, Queensland Agricultural Journal 1(6): 452(1897), Type: Mourilyan Harbour, near Esmeralda Plantation, W. Mugford.