''Ficus polita'', the heart-leaved 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 is native to forests of
tropical Africa
Although tropical Africa is mostly familiar to the West for its rainforests, this biogeographic realm of Africa is far more diverse. While the tropics are thought of as regions with hot moist climates, which are caused by latitude and the tropi ...
,
Distribution
The tree is found in Lowland rainforest and gallery forest (west and central Africa), coastal & dry forest (east and southern African coast), and 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 ...
. It grows up to elevations of .
Description
''Ficus polita'' is similar to the Pondoland fig, (''
Ficus bizanae
The Pondoland fig (''Ficus bizanae'') is a species of fig that is endemic to forests of coastal South Africa, where it is threatened by habitat loss.
Their figs are borne on old wood, in small clusters on stumpy branchlets. Their leaves have ent ...
''), an endemic tropical forest species in South Africa. The leaves have entire margins and are often heart-shaped, with the tip acuminate.
[
The figs are borne on old wood, in small clusters on stumpy branchlets.][
]
Gallery
Image:Ficus polita (nom), bas, Manie van der Schijff BT.jpg,
Image:Ficus polita (nom), blare, Manie van der Schijff BT.jpg,
Image:Ficus polita (nom), vye, Manie van der Schijff BT, a.jpg,
Image:Ficus polita (nom), vy, b, Manie van der Schijff BT.jpg,
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15477840
polita
Trees of Africa
Afrotropical realm flora
Plants described in 1805
Taxa named by Martin Vahl