Ficus fraseri

Fraser fig
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Moraceae
Genus: Ficus
Species: F. fraseri
Binomial name
Ficus fraseri
Miq.
Synonyms
  • Ficus aspera var. subglabra Benth.
  • Ficus subglabra (Benth.) F.Muell.
  • Ficus stenocarpa F.Muell. ex Benth.
  • Ficus stephanocarpa var. subglabra (Benth.) Maiden & Betche

Ficus fraseri, the white sandpaper fig or shiny sandpaper fig, is one of several fig species commonly known as sandpaper figs. It is native to New South Wales and Queensland in Australia and New Caledonia.[1] More ambiguous common names are "figwood" and "watery fig".[2][3]

It grows as either a shrub or tree with height ranging from around 6 to 15 metres.[1][4] Its leaves are 6 to 14 cm long and 2.5 to 6.5 cm wide on petioles that are 1 to 2 cm long.[1] The rounded figs are 1 to 1.5 cm long and start out yellow in colour, maturing to orange-red between May and February in the species native range.[1] They are edible, but insipid.[5]

In Australia, the species occurs from Tuggerah Lake in New South Wales, northwards to the Atherton Tableland in Queensland.[1][4]

The grey-headed flying fox feeds on the figs.[6]

Although rarely seen in cultivation, it is a fast-growing, ornamental species.[4] It can be easily propagated from seed.[4]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ficus fraseri.
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ficus fraseri Miq.". PlantNET - New South Wales Flora Online. Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney Australia. Retrieved 2008-07-10. }
  2. "Ficus fraseri". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  3. "Ficus fraseri". Endémía - Faune & Flore de Nouvelle-Calédonie. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Nicholson, Nan & Hugh (1985). Australian Rainforest Plants. New South Wales: Terania Rainforest Nursery. ISBN 0958943605.
  5. Low, T. (1991). Wild Food Plants Of Australia. Australia: Angus & Robertson. ISBN 0207169306.
  6. "Diet list for Grey-headed Flying-fox Pteropus poliocephalus '" (PDF). Australasian Bat Society Inc. July 2001. Retrieved 2008-07-12.


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