Volume 10 > Part 4 > Year 2011 > Page 637 > Moraceae > Ficus

URO32. Ficus religiosa L.wfo-0000690026

Sp. Pl.: 1059. 1753; Wight, Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. 6: t. 1967. 1853; Miq., Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugd. Bat. 3: 287. 1867, King, Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. (Calcutta) 1(1): 55, t. 67A. 1887; Ridl., Fl. Malay Penins. 3: 337. 1924; Gagnep., Fl. Indo Chine 5: 767. 1928; C.C.Berg & Corner, Fl. Males., Ser. 1, Spermat. 17(2): 608. 2005.— Urostigma religiosum (L.) Gasp., Giorn. Bot. Ital. 2: 214. 1844.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Tree to 25(–35) m tall, hemi-epiphytic (or terrestrial as planted tree), deciduous or evergreen. Branches drying (reddish-)brown (to blackish). Leafy twigs 2–7 mm thick, slightly angular to subterete, (minutely) white puberulous to glabrous. Leaves spirally arranged; lamina (broadly) ovate to cordiform, (5–)10–20(–27) by (2.5–18–13(–17) cm, (sub)coriaceous, apex caudate, the acumen sharp, base cordate to truncate; both surfaces glabrous; cystoliths only below; lateral veins (6–)7–9 pairs, the basal pair to ⅛–¼ the length of the lamina, mostly branched, tertiary venation reticulate to subscalariform; waxy gland at the base of the midrib; petiole (2.5–)4–12 cm long, 1.5–2 mm thick, glabrous; stipules 0.5–1 cm long, ciliolate or glabrous, caducous. Figs axillary or just below the leaves, in pairs (or solitary), sessile; basal bracts 3, 3–5 mm long, puberulous or only ciliolate, often splitting into lobes, persistent; receptacle subglobose, 0.5–0.8(–1) cm diam., 1–1.5 cm diam. when fresh, glabrous, turning from pink to purple to black at maturity, apex convex to flat, ostiole 2–2.5 mm diam., prominent to flat, the upper ostiolar bracts glabrous; internal hairs absent. Staminate flowers near the ostiole. Tepals red. Ovary red-brown.

Thailand : Throughout the country.

Distribution : Pakistan, N India (type), Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, S China, Vietnam; elsewhere in cultivation as ornamental trees, in Asia often as temple trees.

Ecology : Mostly in cultivation as an ornamental tree in temples, becoming naturalized.

Vernacular : Pu (ปู)(Khmer); pho (โพ), pho si maha pho (โพศรีมหาโพ)(Central); yong (ย่อง)(Shan-Mae Hong Son); sali (สลี)(Northern).

CommonName : Pipal tree, Sacred fig tree.

Notes: The natural distribution of the species is not clear. Nearly all collections made in Thailand indicate that the species does not occur naturally in the country. The only collection somewhat doubtful in this respect is Sørensen et al. 995 -C, Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep, deciduous forest, 300 m but the species naturalizes in many parts of the country.