Weeping fig (പുത്ര ജുവി)




Scientific Name:AFicus benjamina L.

Synonyms:Ficus comosa Roxb. ,
 Ficus nuda (Miq.) Miq.

Systematic Position
Class: Dicotylodonae
Sub Class:   Monochlamydae
Series:
Unisexuales
Family: Moraceae

Common Names
English:
Weeping fig
Malayalam:
പുത്ര ജുവി
Tamil:
Vellal
Hindi: Pukar

Description: Large tree about 30 m tall, epiphytic in early life, bark smooth with drooping branches producing aerial roots which can develop into new trunks. Leaves simple, alternate, elliptical, thick and 3-4 inches long with acuminate tip, petiole 1 cm long, stipules lanceolate. Inflorescence hypathodium. Figs axillary on leafy branches, solitary or paired, red or yellow when mature, globose, glabrous or pubescent, base attenuate into stalk, sessile, involucral bracts inconspicuous, glabrous, persistent. Male, gall and female flowers within the same fig. Male flowers shortly pedicellate, stamens 1, filament rather long. Gall flowers many, narrowly spatulate. Ovary ovoid, smooth, short. Female flowers sessile, calyx lobes 3, shortly spatulate, stigma enlarged. Achenes ovoid-reniform, shorter than persistent style. Syconus fruit. Wasps play an important role in pollination and reproduction of this species

Habitat: Evergreen to deciduous forests; and cultivated in gardens.

Distribution: Asia: Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam; Oceanic Islands: Solomon Islands; Australasia.

Uses:  A decoction of leaves taken with oil is used to treat ulcers; Folk medicine