Cape Fig
Ficus sur
(Ficus capensis)
Large tree growing at Uhuru Gardens, Nairobi, Kenya, March 2013.
TREE: Mature trees with heavy, spreading branches and reaching 15 meters
in height and even broader crown.
FLOWERS: Small greenish flowers go mostly unnoticed and are famously
pollinated by minute fig wasps.
LEAVES: Large leaves are broadly elyptcal and exude milky latex when
damaged/broken. The margins are shallowly toothed. The splotches on the leaf
below might be caused by gall mites, Eriophyidae.
RANGE: Mid and lower elevations especially on deep soils adjacent to
rivers with seasonal flooding. Native to Kenya.
FRUIT: Fruit turn orange when ripe and soon attract many birds and
primates to feed. The fruit are borne on half-meter long branchlets that arise
directly from the older branches.
UNARMED. No thorns, but latex can be irritating.
Moraceae -- Fig Family
