Ficus altissima Blume

Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Rosales >Moraceae > Ficus > F. altissima

Description: An enormous spreading tree about 25 m tall with aerial roots. Bark grayish, rough. Leaves broadly elliptic or ovate-elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, rather obtuse, 9-18 by 5-13 cm, margin entire, coriaceous, glabrous and dotted above and glabrescent beneath, lateral nerves 5-8 on either side of the midvein, petiole 1.5- 4 cm long, stipules 4 cm long, lanceolate. Male, gall and female flowers within the same fig. Male flowers scattered, perianth segments 4, anther subsessile. Stamens 1. Gall flowers sepals 4. Female flowers segments 4, usually sessile, style elongated, ovary minutely tubercled, achenes minutely tuberculate. Figs axillary on leafy branchlets, usually paired, sessile, enclosed in deciduous bracteates calyptra, yellowish when ripe, ovoid, 1.2-2.7 cm in diameter. Syconus fruit.

Flowering and fruiting: November-March

Uses: Used In Ayurveda ands Siddha. A red dye known as Mangaldai is made by decoction of the bark with lime.

Cultivation: Cultivated, Wild. A key ecosystem species. Wasps play an important role in pollination and reproduction of this species.

References

http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org

https://indiabiodiversity.org