Ficus hispida L. f. (MORACEAE)
Common names
Kannada: Athi mara, Kadu athi.
Tulu: Paajovu.
Malayalam: Erumanakku, Parakan.
Sanskrit: Kaka dumbura.
Tamil: Pei atthi, Chona-atthi.
Telugu: Vetti-athi, Bedamamidi.
Description: Small trees, 8-12 m tall without aerial roots; all parts hispid; internodes hollow. Leaves opposite, ovate, oblong or subobovate, 10-20 x 10-15 cm, truncate-cordate at base, abruptly acuminate at apex, membranous, toothed or entire, upper surface hispid-scabrid, hispid-pubescent beneath; basal nerves 2-4; lateral nerves 4-7 pairs; fine reticulation; petioles 1.5 – 5 cm long, (in young shoots 7.5 – 9 cm long), densely hispid; stipules 2 to each leaf, ca 1.5 cm long, pubescent outside. Receptacles clustered on tubercules of the stem or on separate twigs borne on trunk and branches, globose, sessile or with short peduncles, hispid; basal bracts 3. Perianth lobes 3 in male flowers and 0 in gall and fertile flowers. Male flowers: numerous, near the apex of the receptacles containing galls. Stamen 1; anther broad; filament short. Gall flowers: pedicellate. Ovary smooth, globose; style short; stigma dialated. Fertile flowers: ovary 1-locular, style lateral, stigma cylindric. The figs are either obovoid or subpyriform, with a diameter ranging from 1.5 to 3.0 cm, and they take on a yellowish hue when they reach ripeness. Abundant small seeds are present.
Flowering & Fruiting: Throughout the year.
Distribution: India: Common in evergreen forests and elsewhere in damp localities, up to 1300 m. Sri Lanka, Malesia, Australia.
Uses: Figs edible and made into jams. Leaves and twigs lopped for fodder for cattle and elephants. Bark tonic, antiperiodic; fig tonic, galactogenic; seed and bark purgative, emetic, root, bark, fig and latex used in leprosy, leucoderma, anaemia, jaundice, piles, wounds, burning sensation and haemorrhage.