Ficus crassiuscula
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| Ficus crassiuscula | ||||||||||||||
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| Ficus crassiuscula Warb. ex Standl. |
Ficus crassiuscula is a tropical tree in the fig genus. When mature, it is 20 to 35 meters tall. The leaves are ovoid and shiny, reaching 7 cm wide and 16 cm long. It flowers February to April and bears warty, yellow-green fruit that are 4 to 6 cm in diameter. Native to Costa Rica, F. crassiuscula is found in cloud forest above 1550 meters.[1]
Although it is a freestanding tree when mature, F. crassiuscula begins its growth as a climbing vine. It clings to a mature tree, eventually strangling it. Its favored hosts are Guarea tuisana and Sapium pachystachys, and it is also frequently found on already dead trees.[2]
Monkeys feed on fruits still on the tree, and fallen fruits are eaten by peccaries. The wood is soft, but it is used for construction purposes where durability is not important.
[edit] References
- ^ Haber, William (2000). An Introduction to Cloud Forest Trees. Monteverde de Puntarenas, Costa Rica: Mountain Gem Publications. ISBN 9977124183.
- ^ Daniels, James D. "Habitat and Host Preferences of Ficus Crassiuscula, A Neotropical Strangling Fig of the Lower-Montane Rain Forest." The Journal of Ecology 79, no. 1 (1991): 129-141.
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