Scientific Name: Ficus benjamina L.

Synonyms: Ficus comosa Roxb., Ficus nuda (Miq.) Miq.

Unique ID: 218

Systematic Position

Class: Dicotyledonae

Sub Class: Monochlamydae                  

Series: Unisexuales

Family: Moraceae

Common Names

English – Benjamin’s fig, Weeping fig

Malayalam – പുത്ര ജുവി

Tamil – Vellal

Hindi – Pukar

Description: Large tree about 30 m tall, epiphytic in early life, bark smooth with drooping branches producing aerial roots which can develop into new trunks. Leaves simple, alternate, elliptical, thick and 3-4 inches long with acuminate tip, petiole 1 cm long, stipules lanceolate. Inflorescence hypathodium. Figs axillary on leafy branches, solitary or paired, red or yellow when mature, globose, glabrous or pubescent, base attenuate into stalk, sessile, involucral bracts inconspicuous, glabrous, persistent. Male, gall and female flowers within the same fig. Male flowers shortly pedicellate, stamens 1, filament rather long. Gall flowers many, narrowly spatulate. Ovary ovoid, smooth, short. Female flowers sessile, calyx lobes 3, shortly spatulate, stigma enlarged. Achenes ovoid-reniform, shorter than persistent style. Syconus fruit. Wasps play an important role in pollination and reproduction of this species

Habitat: Evergreen to deciduous forests; and cultivated in gardens.

Distribution: Asia: Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam; Oceanic Islands: Solomon Islands; Australasia.

Uses:  A decoction of leaves taken with oil is used to treat ulcers; Folk medicine