Ficus crassiuscula

Taxobox
name = "Ficus crassiuscula"


image_width = 240px
image_caption =
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Urticales
familia = Moraceae
genus = "Ficus"
species = "F. crassiuscula"
binomial = "Ficus crassiuscula"
binomial_authority = Warb. ex Standl.

"Ficus crassiuscula" is a tropical tree in the fig genus. When mature, it is 20 to 35 meters tall. The leaves are ovoid and shiny, reaching 7 cm wide and 16 cm long. It flowers February to April and bears warty, yellow-green fruit that are 4 to 6 cm in diameter. Native to Costa Rica, "F. crassiuscula" is found in cloud forest above 1550 meters. [cite book | last = Haber | first = William | title = An Introduction to Cloud Forest Trees | publisher = Mountain Gem Publications | location = Monteverde de Puntarenas, Costa Rica | year = 2000 | isbn = 9977124183 ]

Although it is a freestanding tree when mature, "F. crassiuscula" begins its growth as a climbing vine. It clings to a mature tree, eventually strangling it. Its favored hosts are "Guarea tuisana" and "Sapium pachystachys", and it is also frequently found on already dead trees. [Daniels, James D. "Habitat and Host Preferences of Ficus Crassiuscula, A Neotropical Strangling Fig of the Lower-Montane Rain Forest." The Journal of Ecology 79, no. 1 (1991): 129-141.]

Monkeys feed on fruits still on the tree, and fallen fruits are eaten by peccaries.The wood is soft, but it is used for construction purposes where durability is not important.

References