Wonderboom Fig

Appearance

The elliptic-oblong, leathery leaves of about 7 to 10 cm long, are carried on long petioles, and are often noticeably folded along the midrib. The leaf sides are almost parallel and clear net-veining is visible on the lamina. Leaves are brittle and have a characteristic smell when broken or bruised. The leaves are toxic and cause nervous disorders or even deaths in cattle.

The small, smooth figs are carried on short stalks and measure about 4–6 mm in diameter. They are massed along the branchlets in the leaf axils, and change from white to yellowish-red and spotted as they ripen. The figs are eaten by birds and mammals.

Naming

It may be confused with the similar but deciduous ''Ficus ingens'' which grows in similar habitat. The latter has somewhat larger, white to purple figs, and deep red fresh foliage. The Wonderboom fig is sometimes deemed a race of ''Ficus cordata'', i.e. ''F. c.'' subsp. ''salicifolia'' C.C.Berg, though the latter species has yellowish sessile figs and a more westerly distribution.

Distribution

It occurs in the Saharo-montane woodlands of the Tassili n'Ajjer, the Hoggar, Aïr and Tibesti mountains, the Kerkour Nourene massif and at Elba mountain in the Red Sea Hills. It is widespread in the eastern Afrotropics, from southern Arabia and Socotra to the KwaZulu-Natal midlands of South Africa.