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Ficus_bussei

Ficus bussei Mildbraed & Burret 1911

 

(Life; Embryophyta (plants); Angiospermae (flowering plants); Eudicotyledons; Order: Rosales; Family: Moraceae; Genus: Ficus; Subgenus: Urostigma; Section: Galoglychia; Subsection: Platyphyllae)


Ficus_bussei Ficus_bussei

Ficus_bussei

Ficus_bussei

Ficus_bussei Ficus_bussei

Ficus_bussei

Usambara, Tanzania. Photographs © Jean-Yves Rasplus (INRA)
   
Ficus_bussei Ficus_bussei
Ficus_bussei  
Mkomazi Game Reserve, Tanzania. Photographs © Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of South Africa).
Ficus_bussei  
ex hort (Norwegian arboretum, Bergen). Photograph © Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of South Africa).

Distribution

Distribution_of_Ficus_bussei

From Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia to coastal regions of Tanzania, Kenya & Somalia.

Biology

Pollinator: Elisabethiella species.

Habitat

Lowland forests and savanna.

Comments

Ficus bussei is a possible vicariant of Ficus recurvata and these two taxa may represent geographical populations of a single species.

Description

(after C.C. Berg in Berg & Wiebes, 1992).

Biological form

tree up to 20 m tall, terrestrial

Leaves

shape & colour

subovate to oblong, coriaceous, apex acute to obtuse, base cordate, both surface glabrous

 

size

5-24 x 3-10 cm

 

lateral veins

10-16 pairs, basal pair branched reaching margin far below the middle of the lamina

 

petiole

2-8 cm long, sparsely puberulous

Stipules

0.3-1.2 cm long, glabrous, caducous

Figs

position

in pairs or solitary in the leaf axils

 

shape

globose to ellipsoid, Æ 2-3 cm (fresh), smooth to puberulous

 

peduncle

1-3 cm long

 

basal bracts

3 mm long, persistent

References

Berg, C.C. 1988. New taxa and combinations in Ficus (Moraceae) in Africa. Kew Bulletin 43: 77- 97.

Berg, C.C. 1989. Moraceae. In: R.M. Polhill (ed.) Flora of Tropical East Africa. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam.

Berg, C.C. 1990. Distribution of African taxa of Ficus (Moraccae). [Proc. 12th AETFAT]. Mitt. inst. Allg. Bot. Hamburg 23: 401-405.

Berg, C.C. 1990. Annotated check-list of the Ficus species of the African floristic region, with special reference and a key to the taxa of southern Africa. Kirkia, 13: 253-291.

Berg, C.C. 1991. Moraceae. In: E. Launert & G.Y. Pope (eds) Flora Zambesiaca 9, 6. Natural History Museum, London.

Berg, C.C. & Hijman, M.E.E. 1989. Chapter 11. Ficus. Flora of Tropical East Africa (ed. R.M. Polhill). 43-86. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam.

Berg, C.C., Hijman, M.E.E. & Weerdenburg, J.C.A. 1984. Moracées (incl. Cécropiacées). Flore du Gabon 26: 1276.

Berg, C.C., Hijman, M.E.E. & Weerdenburg, J.C.A. 1985. Moracées (incl. Cécropiacées). Flore du Cameroun 28: 1298.

Berg, C.C. & Wiebes, J.T. 1992. African fig trees and fig wasps. Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen. Amsterdam, 1-298 pp.

Bouček Z., A. Watsham & J.T. Wiebes, 1981. The fig wasp fauna of the receptacles of Ficus thonningii (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea). Tijdschrift Voor Entomologie, 124(5): 149-233.

Burrows, J. & Burrows, S. 2003. Figs of southern & south-central Africa. Umdaus Press, Hatfield. 379 pp.

Credits

Photographs © Jean-Yves Rasplus or © Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of South Africa).

Next species

Ficus_glumosa

Ficus glumosa Delile

Web authors Simon van Noort (Iziko South African Museum)

and Jean-Yves Rasplus (INRA, France)

 

Citation: van Noort, S. & Rasplus, JY. 2024. Figweb: figs and fig wasps of the world. URL: www.figweb.org(Accessed on <day-month-year>).

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