| | | Ficus benghalensis (C.DC.) Corner 'Krishnae' | | Moraceae | |
Description: Tree, 10–15 m tall, widespread with few aerial roots; twigs glaucous, lenticellate; puberulose on twigs, leaves, petioles, bracts & figs. Stipules amplexicaul, acuminate, 2–3.5 cm long. Leaves elliptic or ovate, 7–20 cm long; apex obtuse; base cunete, mostly unequal due to 1 or 2 pocket-like fold at the base; basal nerves 1–2 pairs; lamina thickened, green above, pale green below; secondary nerves 3–5 on each side, intermediat nerves present; tertiary nerves scalariform-reticulate; petioles 3–8 cm, slightly grooved, occasionally with 1–2 leafy appendages on petiole, sometimes reduce to awn like. Figs axillary, a pair, closely arranged at the end of twigs; receptacle globose, 1.5–2 cm in diam., orange-red, yellowish inside; basal bracts 3, suborbicular, to ca 1 cm in diam., concave; ostiole ca 3 mm in diam., ostiolars bract 3, imbricate; ovary, tepals & stamens light brown. | | | |
Distribution: Cultivated in India, Sri Lanka and Tropical Asia.
Notes
1. This cultivar is accepted here follow the Flora Fauna Web (https://www.nparks.gov.sg/florafaunaweb/flora/2/9/2901). It differs from Ficus benghalensis L. by having cup-forming leaves, petioles with 1–2 leafy appendages, and aerial roots with a few and not forming accessory trunks. Some botanists accepted as a distinct species F. krishnae C.DC. (Vaid, 1963 as cv trifoliata; Tiwari et al., 2015; Mahima et al., 2021), as F. benghalensis var. krishnae (C.DC.) Corner (Chaudhary et al., 2012), and as a synonym of F. benghalensis (Govaerts, 2001; Berg & Corner, 2005).
2. The common names, Krishna cup or Krishna’s butter cup, refer to the myth that Lord Krishna rolled the leaf of this tree to hide the butter after he was caught by his mother, since then, the leaves have retained this shape. | |
Thai name: ไทรกฤษณะ (Sai kitsana) | |
Photos: Rachun Pooma (cultivated) | |
References:
| Berg, C.C. & Corner, E.J.H. (2005). Moraceae - Ficus. Flora Malesiana Series I (Seed Plants), 17: 1-730. | | Chaudhary, L.B., Sudhakar, J.V., Kumar, A., Bajpai, O., Tiwari, R. & Murthy, G.V.S. (2012). Synopsis of the Genus Ficus L. (Moraceae) in India. Taiwania 57(2): 193-216. | | Govaerts, R. (2001). World Checklist of Seed Plants Database in ACCESS E-F: 1-50919. | | Mahima, K., Umapathy, S., Sudhakar, J.V. & Sathishkumar, R. (2021). Systematic reinstatement of highly sacred Ficus krishnae based on differences in morphology and DNA barcoding from Ficus benghalensis (Moraceae). PhytoKey 186: 121-138. | | Tiwari, R., Sudhakar, J.V., Chaudhary, L.B., Murthy, G.V.S. & Durgapal, A. (2015). Revisit the taxonomy of Ficus krishnae (Moraceae). Phytotaxa Vol 192(3): 169-180. | | Vaid, K.M. (1963). Trifoliation–a new freak in Ficus krishnae C. de C. Indian Forester 89(7): 475–476. |
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