White Fig (Ficus virens)

Evergreen White Fig This fig is a widespread species which are usually found at the coast and common on islands. It is a strangler in which grows as an hemiepiphyte on a host tree and slowly envelops it, thus "strangling" it. Fruits are small and have short peduncle. Fruit ripens green - white - pink - purple. Leaves stay green, even when dried, giving it the latin name "virens" which means green. In Thailand, the leaves are prepared as a delicacy.

The common name for this species is "white fig" which is very confusing as the latin name means "green fig". So to solve this issue, I am calling it the "Evergreen White Fig" instead to include both Latin and English name. Ficus virens,Geotagged,Malaysia,Summer

Appearance

It is a medium-sized tree which grows to a height of 24–27 metres In dry areas and up to 32 metres tall in wetter areas. It is a fig tree belonging to the group of trees known as strangler figs, which is because its seeds can germinate on other trees and grow to strangle and eventually kill the host tree.

It has two marked growth periods in its Indian environment: in spring , and in the time of the monsoon rains. The new leaves are a beautiful shade of reddish pink and very pleasing to the eye.

This is a very massive tree in which the size of the crown can sometimes exceed the height of the tree.

Evergreen White Fig roots The large strangling roots of the white fig tree. This fig is a widespread species which are usually found at the coast and common on islands. It is a strangler in which grows as an hemiepiphyte on a host tree and slowly envelops it, thus "strangling" it. Fruits are small and have short peduncle. Fruit ripens green - white - pink - purple. Leaves stay green, even when dried, giving it the latin name "virens" which means green. In Thailand, the leaves are prepared as a delicacy. The common name for this species is "white fig" which is very confusing as the latin name means "green fig". So to solve this issue, I am calling it the "Evergreen White Fig" instead to include both Latin and English name.

My team (1StopBorneo Wildlife) is trying to document all the figs on Borneo as figs are really important in the ecosystem. The more you know about the value of wild figs, the more you understand how to save wildlife better.

Ficus virens,Geotagged,Malaysia,Summer,White Fig

Distribution

''Ficus virens'' var. ''sublanceolata'' occurs the subtropical rainforest of northeastern New South Wales, and south eastern Queensland in Australia.

Evergreen White Fig leaves with long stalks This fig is a widespread species which are usually found at the coast and common on islands. It is a strangler in which grows as an hemiepiphyte on a host tree and slowly envelops it, thus "strangling" it. Fruits are small and have short peduncle. Fruit ripens green - white - pink - purple. Leaves stay green, even when dried, giving it the latin name "virens" which means green. In Thailand, the leaves are prepared as a delicacy. The common name for this species is "white fig" which is very confusing as the latin name means "green fig". So to solve this issue, I am calling it the "Evergreen White Fig" instead to include both Latin and English name.

My team (1StopBorneo Wildlife) is trying to document all the figs on Borneo as figs are really important in the ecosystem. The more you know about the value of wild figs, the more you understand how to save wildlife better.

Ficus virens,Geotagged,Malaysia,Summer,White Fig

Food

The leaves are known in Thai cuisine as ''phak lueat''. They are eaten boiled as a vegetable in Northern Thai curries, referred to in the Northern dialect as ''phak hueat''.

References:

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Taxonomy
Kingdom	Plantae
Division	Angiosperms
Class	Eudicots
Order	Rosales
Family	Moraceae
Genus	Ficus
Species	F. virens

Photographed in
Malaysia