Ficus septica
| Ficus septica | |
|---|---|
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| In Taiwan | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Moraceae |
| Genus: | Ficus |
| Subgenus: | F. subg. Sycomorus |
| Species: | F. septica
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| Binomial name | |
| Ficus septica | |
| Synonyms | |
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List
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Ficus septica, also known as the Hauili fig tree, is a species of shrub or tree in the family Moraceae found at low altitudes from north-eastern India to northern Australia (Queensland), and throughout Malesia.[2] It lives on the edge of the vegetation, often in degraded environments. The seeds of this species are dispersed by numerous species, including fruit bats (Megachiroptera) when present.[3]
Taxonomy
[edit]Ficus septica was described first by the Dutch botanist Nicolaas Laurens Burman in 1768. Two centuries later, E. J. H. Corner listed three varieties for Ficus septica: F. septica var. septica distributed all over the range of the species; F. septica var. cauliflora limited to Queensland, Australia and the Solomon Islands; and F. septica var. salicifolia endemic to the Philippines Islands.[4] Then in the latest Flora Malesiana edition, Cornelis Christiaan Berg put all these varieties in synonymy together under the name Ficus septica.[2] Within the genus, Ficus septica belongs to the subgenus Sycomorus section Sycocarpus subsection Sycocarpus.
Description
[edit]Tree or shrub up to 25 meters.[2] The latex of F. septica is characteristically yellow. Leaves and petioles are both glabrous. Leaves are symmetric, elliptic to oblong. Figs grow often in pairs but can be solitary or in groups of up to four. Figs are depressed-globose to ellipsoid, the apex is flat or concave. Seven to twelve ribs towards to ostiole. At maturity, whitish to yellowish dots appear on the fig. The individuals from Philippines have their stems covered by short hairs while those found in Taiwan are glabrous.
Habitat
[edit]Ficus septica trees live up to 1800m in montane forests or secondary growth environments. It can be seen often along rivers. In Taiwan, at the northern limit of its distribution, F. septica lives up to 500m in secondary growths and along roads and coastlines.
Ecology
[edit]Ficus septica is pollinated by fig wasps from the genus Ceratosolen. Usually members of the genus Ficus are pollinated by a single species of pollinating fig wasps specific to each fig species, but recent observations of Ficus septica have shown there to be three pollinating species in southern Taiwan[5] and two in the Philippines.[6]
The figs of Ficus septica have been reported to be eaten by 22 animal species and among them 14 are bats:[3]
- Double-eyed fig parrot
- Unspecified fruit dove
- Black-naped oriole
- Northern common cuscus
- Stein's cuscus
- Common spotted cuscus
- Mantled guereza
- Black rat
- Lesser short-nosed fruit bat
- Horsfield's fruit bat
- Greater short-nosed fruit bat
- Indonesian short-nosed fruit bat
- Bare-backed fruit bat
- Lesser naked-backed fruit bat
- Long-tongued nectar bat
- Long-tongued fruit bat
- Broad-striped tube-nosed fruit bat
- Common tube-nosed fruit bat
- Greater musky fruit bat
- Geoffroy's rousette
- Common blossom bat
References
[edit]- ^ Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) & IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group (2019). "Ficus septica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T145362991A145370379. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T145362991A145370379.en. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ a b c Berg, C.C.; Corner E.J.H. (2005). "Moraceae". Flora Malesiana. I. Vol. 17. ISBN 1-930723-40-7.
- ^ a b Shanahan, M.; Compton, S. G.; So, S.; Corlett, R. (2001). "Fig-eating by vertebrate frugivores: a global review" (PDF). Biological Reviews. 76 (4): 529–72. doi:10.1017/S1464793101005760. PMID 11762492. S2CID 27827864. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2009.
- ^ Corner, E. J. H. (1965). "Check-list of Ficus in Asia and Australasia with keys to identification". The Gardens' Bulletin Singapore. (digitised, online, via biodiversitylibrary.org). 21 (1): 1–186. Retrieved 5 Feb 2014.
- ^ Lin, R.-C.; Yeung, C.K.-L.; Fong, J.J.; Tzeng, H.-Y. & Li, S.-H. (2011). "The lack of pollinator specificity in a dioecious fig tree: sympatric fig-pollinating wasps of Ficus septica in southern Taiwan". Biotropica. 43 (2): 200–07. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2010.00686.x.
- ^ L. Conchou; L. Cabioch; L. J. V. Rodriguez; F. Kjellberg (2014). "Daily rhythm of mutualistic pollinator activity and scent emission in Ficus septica: Ecological differentiation between co-occurring pollinators and potential consequences for chemical communication and facilitation of host speciation". PLOS ONE. 9 (8): e103581. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...9j3581C. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103581. PMC 4126690. PMID 25105796.