Huan wen rong, Nizhangde
Ficus annulata

Family: Moraceae

What it is like

Ficus annulata is an evergreen Tree growing to 25 m (82ft) by 20 m (65ft) at a medium rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. The flowers are pollinated by Wasps. It is noted for attracting wildlife. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.

Height (m): 25

Where it is found

Montane forests at elevations from 500 - 1,300 metres in China. A mid-canopy tree in undisturbed mixed dipterocarp forests at elevations up to 600 metres. Usually on alluvial sites near rivers and streams, but also on hillsides and ridges.

E. Asia - southern China, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines.

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Brunei, China, Indochina, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pacific, Philippines, SE Asia, Thailand, Vietnam,

How it is used

Food

Rating: 2

Leaves - cooked and eaten as a vegetable.

Medicine

Rating: 0

Other

Rating: 3

A latex is obtained from the plant. A high quality rubber can be made from it.

Industrial Crop: Hydrocarbon: Materials, chemicals and energy include bioplastics, rubber, biomass products gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, butane, propane, biogas. Plants are usually resprouting plants and saps.

Management: Standard: Plants grow to their standard height. Harvest fruit, seeds, or other products. Non-Destructive management systems.

Regional Crop: These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.

Industrial Crop: Hydrocarbon: Materials, chemicals and energy include bioplastics, rubber, biomass products gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, butane, propane, biogas. Plants are usually resprouting plants and saps.

Management: Standard: Plants grow to their standard height. Harvest fruit, seeds, or other products. Non-Destructive management systems.

Regional Crop: These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.

Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.

How it is grown

Found in the wild on sandy to clay soils. Fig trees have a unique form of fertilization, each species relying on a single, highly specialized species of wasp that is itself totaly dependant upon that fig species in order to breed. The trees produce three types of flower; male, a long-styled female and a short-styled female flower, often called the gall flower. All three types of flower are contained within the structure we usually think of as the fruit. The female fig wasp enters a fig and lays its eggs on the short styled female flowers while pollinating the long styled female flowers. Wingless male fig wasps emerge first, inseminate the emerging females and then bore exit tunnels out of the fig for the winged females. Females emerge, collect pollen from the male flowers and fly off in search of figs whose female flowers are receptive. In order to support a population of its pollinator, individuals of a Ficus spp. must flower asynchronously. A population must exceed a critical minimum size to ensure that at any time of the year at least some plants have overlap of emmission and reception of fig wasps. Without this temporal overlap the short-lived pollinator wasps will go locally extinct.

Propagating it: Seed

Best place to grow:

Habit: Tree

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Medium

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Ara susu, Kara, Kayu ara, Naung-tha-phan, Than-thay,

Synonyms

Ficus balabacensis Quisumb. Ficus flavescens Blume Ficus valida Blume Urostigma annulatum (Blume) Miq. Urostigma depressum Miq. Urostigma flavescens (Blume) Miq. Urostigma validum Miq.