''Trilepisium madagascariense'', the urnfig or false-fig, is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

in the family

Moraceae The Moraceae — often called the mulberry family or fig family — are a family of flowering plants comprising about 38 genera and over 1100 species. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates; however ...

, with an extensive range in the subtropical and tropical

Afrotropics The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the island ...

. It grows to a medium-sized or large tree in primary or secondary forest, or in forest patches, and is rarely cultivated.

Range and habitat

It is native to tropical and subtropical West and Central Africa, and occurs southwards to

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

and the

Soutpansberg The Soutpansberg, (formerly ''Zoutpansberg'') meaning "Salt Pan Mountain" in Afrikaans, is a Mountain range, range of mountains in far northern South Africa. It is located in Vhembe District Municipality, Vhembe District, Limpopo. It is named for ...

, South Africa. It is also found on

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and

Annobón Annobón ( es, Provincia de Annobón; pt, Ano-Bom), and formerly as ''Anno Bom'' and ''Annabona'', is a province (smallest province in both area and population) of Equatorial Guinea consisting of the island of Annobón, formerly also Pigalu a ...

island. The closely related '' T. gymnandrum'' occurs on

Silhouette Island Silhouette Island lies northwest of Mahé in the Seychelles. It is the third largest granitic island in the Seychelles. It has an area of 20.1 km2 and has a population of 200, mostly workers on the island. The main settlement is La Passe ...

, Seychelles. It grows in evergreen and semi-deciduous forests,

flooded forest Freshwater swamp forests, or flooded forests, are forests which are inundated with freshwater, either permanently or seasonally. They normally occur along the lower reaches of rivers and around freshwater lakes. Freshwater swamp forests are found ...

s or forest patches and often grows along rivers and streams, extending on to the borders of savanna. It is found at altitudes of up to 2,000 m and higher. Its

status Status (Latin plural: ''statūs''), is a state, condition, or situation, and may refer to: * Status (law) ** City status ** Legal status, in law ** Political status, in international law ** Small entity status, in patent law ** Status conference ...

varies from rare to locally abundant and dominant.

Description

They are usually short and twisted bole and is often fluted at the base, with or without

buttresses A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (si ...

. Large trees may be 60 cm to 1½ m in girth, and 30 m high. The smooth, grey bark is very

lenticel A lenticel is a porous tissue consisting of cells with large intercellular spaces in the periderm of the secondarily thickened organs and the bark of woody stems and roots of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It functions as a pore, providing a ...

late and exudes a cream-coloured

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...

when damaged. The yellowish to pinkish slash turns purple-red as it dries. It usually branches high up to form a small and loosely pyramidal crown with drooping twigs.

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). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

s of the terminal

bud In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be spec ...

s eventually leave annular scars. The glossy and very dark elliptic leaves have a prominent driptip, and measure up to 14 cm long. They are glossy below, and have two small lobes at the base. The flowers appear in spring and are arranged in a whitish to mauve puff. The puff is about 1 cm in diameter, and consists of

staminate The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

male flowers and

pistillate Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

female flowers, without

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepals when ...

s, which obscure the view of the receptacle. The flowers protrude from the open apex of an

urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...

-shaped receptacle which is about 1.5 cm long. The fig-like fruit, embedded in fleshy receptacles, are some 2 cm long. They are ellipsoidal in shape and hold a nutlet each. Ripe fruit have the appearance of blue plums or elongated figs.

Uses and species associations

The wood is suitable for furniture, and the sap yields a red dye. Roasted seeds are eaten and the trees are sometimes cultivated. It has many traditional uses. A

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula C H3 O H (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is a ...

extract,

fractions A fraction (from la, fractus, "broken") represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, a fraction describes how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half, eight ...

and

isoliquiritigenin Isoliquiritigenin is a phenolic chemical compound found in licorice. Metabolism The enzyme 6'-deoxychalcone synthase uses malonyl-CoA, 4-coumaroyl-CoA, Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, NADPH, and H+ to produce Coenzyme A, CoA, isoliqu ...

from the stem bark has been shown to possess

antidiarrhoeal An anti-diarrhoeal drug (or anti-diarrheal drug in American English) is any medication which provides symptomatic relief for diarrhoea. Types * Electrolyte solutions, while not true antidiarrhoeals, are used to replace lost fluids and salts in ac ...

activities, and previously unknown trilepisflavan and trilepisuimic acid compounds were isolated from it in 2012. ''Trilepisium madagascariense'' is a larval foodplant for the butterfly '' Cyrestis camillus sublineata''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15479996 madagascariense Trees of Africa Flora of Southern Africa Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN