Ficus dammaropsis

Ficus dammaropsis
Ficus dammaropsis showing large leaves and syconia (fruit of figs)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Moraceae
Genus: Ficus
Subgenus: F. subg. Sycomorus
Species:
F. dammaropsis
Binomial name
Ficus dammaropsis
Synonyms

Dammaropsis kingiana

A young highland breadfruit, centre, in Whangārei, New Zealand
Immature fruits at Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria
Syconia (fruit) of the plant Ficus dammaropsis

Ficus dammaropsis, the Highland breadfruit, locally called kapiak in Tok Pisin, is a tropical dioecious[2] evergreen fig tree with huge pleated leaves 60 cm (24 in) across and up to 90 cm (3 ft) in length.[3] on petioles as much as thirteen inches (thirty-three centimetres) long and 1 in (2.5 cm) thick. These emerge from a stipular sheath up to fourteen inches (thirty-six centimetres) long, the largest of any dicot. It is native to the highlands and highland fringe of New Guinea. It generally grows at altitudes of between 850 and 2,750 metres (2,790 and 9,020 ft). Its fruit, the world's largest figs (syconia), up to six inches (fifteen centimetres) in diameter, are edible but rarely eaten except as an emergency food. There are two fruit colour variants in Ficus dammaropsis, red and green, as illustrated by the photos here. They are pollinated by the tiny fig wasp Ceratosolen abnormis.[4] The young leaves are pickled or cooked and eaten as a vegetable with pig meat by highlanders.[5]

The lowland form of this species, with different and smaller flower form and less pleated leaves than Ficus dammaropsis, found commonly below 900 metres (2,950 ft) is recognized as a distinct species, Ficus brusii.[5]

The species can be found at the Melbourne Botanic Gardens, located in the ‘Yucca Bed’.[6]

  1. ^ IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group.; Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). (2020). "Ficus dammaropsis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T142807867A170234110. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T142807867A170234110.en. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  2. ^ George D. Weiblen; Douglas W. Yu; Stuart A. West (2001). "Pollination and parasitism in functionally dioecious figs" (PDF). Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Biological Sciences. 268. The Royal Society: 651-659. doi:10.1098/rspb.2000.1389.
  3. ^ HP Nooteboom, ed. (2005). Moraceae - Ficus. Flora Malesiana, series 1. Vol. 17. p. 378. ISBN 9789071236617.
  4. ^ "NParks - Ficus dammaropsis". August 20, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Ezedin, Z.; Weiblen, G.D. (2019-09-27). "Additions and changes to Ficus (Moraceae) in New Guinea with comments on the world's largest fig". Gardens' Bulletin Singapore. 71 (suppl.2): 197–216. doi:10.26492/gbs71(suppl.2).2019-15. ISSN 0374-7859.
  6. ^ "RBG Census". data.rbg.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 2023-01-05.