''Ficus cordata'', the Namaqua rock fig, or Namaqua fig is a species of

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 populations in Africa, one in the arid southwest of the continent, and a second in the northern subtropics. In the south it is often the largest and most prominent tree, and is virtually restricted to cliff faces and rock outcrops, where it has a rock-splitting habit.

Subspecies

The subspecies are: * ''F. c. cordata'' – southwestern Africa * ''F. c. lecardii'' (Warb.) C.C.Berg – Senegal to central Africa

Range and habitat

The nominate subspecies is native to arid western

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and southwestern

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, while a second subspecies is native to Africa's northern subtropics. The nominate subspecies is found in

fynbos Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean clim ...

succulent Karoo The Succulent Karoo is a ecoregion defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature to include regions of desert in South Africa and Namibia, and a biodiversity hotspot. The geographic area chosen by the WWF for what they call 'Succulent Karoo' does no ...

and

Nama Karoo Nama Karoo is a xeric shrubland ecoregion located on the central plateau of South Africa and Namibia. It occupies most of the interior of the western half of South Africa and extends into the southern interior of Namibia. Climate The climate te ...

, while the northern subspecies is found in savannah, up to 1,500 m above sea level.

Species associations

The nominate subspecies is pollinated by the wasp '' Platyscapa desertorum'' Compton.. The wasp '' Comptoniella vannoorti'' Wiebes. is an associated non-pollinator that oviposits through the fig wall. The pollinator wasp of the northern subspecies, ''F. c. lecardii'', is as yet unknown.

Similar species

'' F. salicifolia'', the Wonderboom, is sometimes deemed a third subspecies of ''Ficus cordata'', i.e. ''F. c.'' subsp. ''salicifolia'' (Vahl) C.C.Berg, but it lacks the yellowish sessile figs of ''F. cordata'', and its range is much to the east. Ficus cordata IMG 8504

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15261017 Trees of Africa Flora of Southern Africa cordata