Ficus tinctoria aka Fig
Taxonomy ID: 3380
Ficus tinctoria, commonly called the dye fig or humped fig, is a remarkably variable evergreen tree in the family Moraceae and one of the species recognized as a strangler fig. Native to a vast Indo-Pacific range that stretches from Hainan and the Indian subcontinent through Southeast Asia and Malesia to northern Australia (Queensland, Northern Territory) and far across the Pacific to Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands and many Micronesian atolls, it is a defining tree of the wet tropical biome.
The species is a hemiepiphyte: seeds typically germinate in the canopy of a host tree (palms are particularly common hosts), and the seedling develops aerial roots that descend to the ground. As those roots establish, the plant transitions from an epiphytic phase through a transitional phase to a freestanding terrestrial tree. The host tree often dies and rots away, leaving a self-supporting Ficus, although the epiphyte may also fall with its host. Mature form is highly variable, ranging from a one-metre shrub on rocks or coastal thickets to a spreading tree up to about 25 metres tall, with around 15 metres being typical in cultivation.
Leaves are smooth, oval and characteristically asymmetrical, with the midvein offset to one side of the blade. The figs (syconia) are small, up to about 17 mm across, ripening from green through orange and dull red to a final rust-brown or purple. Fruiting tends to occur year-round in suitable tropical climates. Flowering is hidden inside the syconium and, like all figs, depends on an obligate mutualism with host-specific wasps in the family Agaonidae for pollination. F. tinctoria sits in the subgenus Sycidium.
Habitat is broad: moist valleys, rocky slopes and boulder fields in southern China; coastal beach thickets in Fiji; and dense or open forest on steep slopes inland up to about 500 m elevation. Two infraspecific taxa are accepted, F. tinctoria subsp. tinctoria and F. tinctoria subsp. gibbosa. Recognized synonyms include Ficus ampelas K.D.Koenig and Ficus superba var. muelleri (Miq.) Corner. The species has long been valuable to Pacific cultures: the small ripe fruits yield a red dye used in traditional barkcloth and face painting (the source of the name 'dye fig'), the bark furnishes fiber for cordage, the wood serves as a fire carrier, and the fruit itself is an important food, almost a staple on some low-lying Micronesian and Polynesian atolls. Wikipedia lists the IUCN status as Least Concern.
Common names
Fig, Dye Fig, Humped FigMore information about Fig
How big does Fig grow?
Ficus tinctoria is highly variable in stature. Useful Tropical Plants reports a range from a one-metre shrub up to about 25 metres tall, with around 15 metres typical, while Wikipedia describes it as a medium-sized hemiepiphytic tree. Form depends strongly on whether it grows free-standing or as a strangler on a host tree.
What temperature does Fig need?
Useful Tropical Plants notes seed germination at about 20 °C and that the species occupies wet tropical climates from sea level up to about 500 m elevation in southern China and the Pacific. POWO classifies it as a wet-tropical-biome species, implying frost-sensitive, warm-climate requirements.
Does Fig flower?
Like all figs, flowers of Ficus tinctoria are tiny and hidden inside the syconium (fig), so no visible bloom is produced. The syconia are small (up to about 17 mm), ripening from orange through dull red to purple or rust-brown, and are produced year-round in suitable climates.
Can Fig grow outdoors?
Ficus tinctoria is a wet-tropical-biome tree native from Hainan and the Indian subcontinent through Southeast Asia, Malesia, northern Australia and the Pacific. Outdoor cultivation is realistic only in frost-free tropical and subtropical climates; it tolerates rocky and coastal sites and grows up to about 500 m elevation in the wild.
How to propagate Fig?
Useful Tropical Plants reports propagation by seed (germinating at about 20 °C), by air layering, and by 4–12 cm tip cuttings taken from lateral branches.
How is Fig pollinated?
Ficus species are pollinated by host-specific wasps in the family Agaonidae, with each fig species typically relying on one or a few specialised wasp species. Ficus tinctoria, in subgenus Sycidium, follows this obligate mutualism — pollination is by fig wasps, not by wind or generalist insects.
Is Fig edible?
The fruit is edible and is a major food source on low-lying atolls of Micronesia and Polynesia, in some places treated as almost a staple. Useful Tropical Plants notes that fruits up to 17 mm across, ripening orange to dull red and finally purple, are eaten ripe or unripe and are also processed, cooked or made into puddings and preserved foods.
What are the medicinal uses of Fig?
Useful Tropical Plants reports that the plant's juices and leaves are used as a decoction for post-childbirth weakness and applied as a dressing for broken bones, giving it a medicinal rating of 2 out of 5.
What are other uses of Fig?
Ficus tinctoria is the namesake 'dye fig': small ripe fruit, along with sap and roots, yield scarlet and red dyes used to color barkcloth and for face painting in Oceania and Indonesia. Bark fibre is processed into cordage, and the wood is readily combustible and traditionally used as a fire carrier.
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