Ficus fistulosa, AND F. SEPTICA

Berg, C. C., 2011, Corrective notes on the Malesian members of the genus Ficus (Moraceae), Blumea 56 (2), pp. 161-164 : 163

FICUS FISTULOSA AND F. SEPTICA

The other species involved is F. fistulosa , in particular, its relation to F. septica and the material described as F. lucbanensis Elmer (1907: 254) , a name reduced to a variety of F. fistulosa and according to Corner (1960b: 62) to be regarded as a possible hybrid between F. fistulosa and F. septica . Most of the collections Corner initially identified as F. lucbanensis have relatively small elliptic to oblong leaves (often shorter than 10 cm) and small figs, mostly 0.5–0.8 cm diam not or faintly ribbed, and sparsely and mainly at the upper part of the receptacle whitish warty spots. Corner even recognized specimens with brownish to whitish indumentum on the leafy twigs and the petioles (only or more densely adaxially) with the unpublished name var. hirtella . Entirely glabrous and partly hairy specimens are also found in material of F. septica with larger leaves. Material, also with small figs and small leaves, but narrow, being lanceolate to linear, was referred to F. septica under the name var. salicifolia ( Corner 1960b: 62) . As essential differences between the groups of specimens of the two types of leaves is so small that accommodating them in the same species, F. septica , is more correct than to have them placed in different species. Corner based his decision to include F. lucbanensis in F. fistulosa on the absence of ribbed receptacles as evident in F. septica . A reason to link F. lucbanensis to F. fistulosa could also have been the presence of more than two figs on short spurs in the axils of the lower leaves and also below the leaves. True cauliflory in F. septica is only found in the eastern part of the species range (see Corner 1960b: 61). The collections of F. fistulosa from the Philippines (Biliran, Luzon, Mindanao, Mindoro, Samar and Sibuyan) differ from the collections of F. septica in evident cauliflory, peduncles (1–) 1.5 –3 cm long (vs up to 0.8 cm long), mostly stipitate receptacles without white warty spots, and reticulate tertiary venation (vs tending to subscalariform to loosely scalariform).

In the Philippines, F. fistulosa is quite uniform with regard to the position of the figs, being clearly cauliflorous, and features of the figs, being glabrous on all parts and the figs with long peduncles and with the receptacle stipitate. However, there is 163

variation in the laminas: they mostly have an entire margin, but the margin is sometimes sinuate to coarsely dentate to lobate, as in the types of F. grandidens Merr. (1914) and F. repandifolia Elmer (1906) .

Elsewhere in the range, the species is more variable, as with regard to the size of the leaves, the tertiary venation (varying from reticulate to largely scalariform), the presence of indumentum on leafy twigs, petioles and the midrib of the lamina beneath. Moreover, and the position of the figs, that varies from (sometimes) axillary (on short spurs) to ramiflorous (with short spurs, bearing simultaneously only one or a few figs) to clearly cauliflorous, with (clusters of) fig-bearing branchlets, bearing simultaneously numerous figs. Ramiflorous material usually has small leaves, with the lamina often less than 10 cm long, with down to 5 pairs of lateral veins, and the petiole 1– 2 cm long. This ramiflorous material resembles somewhat the collections which have been put in F. ( fistulosa var.) lucbanensis and that might have been one of the reasons to include them in F. fistulosa . The ramiflorous material is found in the greater part of the species range (from Thailand to Java and to Borneo) shows transitions to the mostly large-leafed and cauliflorous form of F. fistulosa , nevertheless, the majority of the collections can be placed in one of two categories, and recognition as varieties might be appropriate: the small-leaved, ramiflorous form as var. tengerensis (Miq.) Kuntze and the large-leaved, cauliflorous one as var. fistulosa . Intermediates are occasionally encountered.