''Ficus coronulata'', commonly known as the peach-leaf fig, and in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
as river fig and crown fig, is one of several
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 ...
species commonly known as sandpaper figs. It is native to Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Description
''Ficus coronulata'' is a tree growing up to tall. It is dioecious. Its twigs hang down, are from in diameter, and have glassy hairs lying close to the twig (appressed), with the twigs becoming smooth with age. The leaf stem is long and in diameter, and is rough to the touch (or with scattered ascending glassy hairs), and deeply channelled on the upper surface. The leaves are alternate but occasionally opposite. They are narrowly elliptic or lanceolate in shape, and have a recurved entire margin. The leaf tip gradually tapers to a point apex acuminate, and the base of the leaf is wedge-shaped. The leaf dimensions are 50–333 mm long and 12–105 mm wide. The leaf surfaces is lightly rough to the touch (scabrid), occasionally with scattered appressed glassy hairs on the lower surface. The leaves also have
cystolith
Cystolith (Gr. "cavity" and "stone") is a botanical term for outgrowths of the epidermal cell wall, usually of calcium carbonate, formed in a cellulose matrix in special cells called lithocysts, generally in the leaf of plants.
Cystoliths are pr ...
s (hard stony structures) which are visible as raised opaque dots on upper surface. The lateral veins occur in 20–46 pairs. Stipules are lateral (occasionally interpetiolar) and are up to 21 mm long, with scattered appressed glassy hairs, and have ciliolate margins which lose their hairs. The fruit ( syconia occur in the leaf axils, are globular, and up to 21 mm long and 21 mm in diameter, and they too are lightly rough to the touch. The ostiole protrudes into a crown with numerous ciliolate bracts (bracts with "eyelashes"), and is green to yellowish green at maturity. The peduncle is 21 mm long, 0.6-1.0 mm in diameter. There are three bracts at the base of up to 4 mm in length, with appressed glassy hairs, and the margins have minute hairs (cilia) which persist. Male florets are ostiolar in up to 4 rows, on stems with 4 or 5 tepals with cilia ("eyelashes") and each with one or two stamens. The female and gall florets are generally without stems (
sessile
Sessility, or sessile, may refer to:
* Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about
* Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant
* Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...
), with 5 ciliolate (with "eyelashes") tepals. Interfloral bracts are absent.
In the Northern Territory it has been found flowering in January, March, May, June, July, September, October and November, and it fruits all year round.
It is not usually confused with other fig species, being distinctive by the green (or yellowish-green) of its mature syconia, and by its narrowly elliptic or lanceolate leaves. It is not a strangling fig.
bioregions
A bioregion is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a biogeographic realm, but larger than an ecoregion or an ecosystem, in the World Wide Fund for Nature classification scheme. There is also an attempt to use the ...
:
Arnhem Coast
The Arnhem Coast, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory,IBR ...
,
Arnhem Plateau
The Arnhem Plateau, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory of Australia,Central Arnhem,
Central Kimberley
The Central Kimberley, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the central Kimberley region of Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area ...
,
Daly Basin
The Daly Basin, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory,IBRA ...
,
Darwin Coastal
The Darwin Coastal, an IBRA bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory of Australia.IBR ...
Gulf Fall and Uplands
The Gulf Fall and Uplands, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory and Queensland,
,
Northern Kimberley
The Northern Kimberley, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the northern Kimberley region of Western Australia,Ord Victoria Plain
The Ord Victoria Plain, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, comprising .
Sturt Plateau
The Sturt Plateau, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory,I ...
, and
Victoria Bonaparte
The Victoria Bonaparte, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory and Western Australia,
. In Western Australia it is found in the bioregions:
Central Kimberley
The Central Kimberley, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the central Kimberley region of Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area ...
Northern Kimberley
The Northern Kimberley, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the northern Kimberley region of Western Australia,Ord Victoria Plain
The Ord Victoria Plain, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, comprising .
, and
Victoria Bonaparte
The Victoria Bonaparte, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory and Western Australia,
.
It is found along rivers and creeks. It has been recorded as a host plant for the mistletoe species '' Amyema benthamii''. Shown to hybridise with ''Ficus aculeata''.
Aboriginal names
For the aboriginal language group, Jaminjung, it is ''Ngaliwurru'' and ''Nungali''; for the Garnimbi it is ''Jabawi''; for the Mangarrayi and Yangman it is ''Garranba''; for the Ngarinyman it is ''Jabawi''; and for the Wagiman it is ''mardengdeng'' and ''dengdengin''.
Uses
''Ficus coronulata'' is used both as medicine and as food by many indigenous groups across the Northern Territory, and the
Jawoyn
The Jawoyn, also written Djauan, are an Australian Aboriginal people living in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Bagala clan are of the Jawoyn people.
Language
Jawoyn, known as Kumertuo, is a non- Pama–Nyungan language that belongs ...
also use it for making fire-sticks. Indigenous people could feed themselves and toss fruit in the river to attract turtles, which they would then catch.
Rarely cultivated, ''Ficus coronulata'' has potential as a specimen tree in parks and gardens. It is also used as an herbicide. It is known for its debilitating effects on humans if accidentally ingested.