Ficus cordata Thunb. subsp. salicifolia (Vahl) C.C.Berg
لثب، تين بري
For people
- Eaten by people
- Unknown
- Toxic to people
- Unknown
For livestock
- Grazed by livestock
- Not grazed
- Toxic to livestock
- Toxic
Edibility and safety notes
The leaves are poisonous to cattle: a veterinary study records 12 heifers dying within 48 hours of eating them, with nervous signs (tremors, staggering), so do not cut branches as fodder. The small figs are eaten by birds and wild mammals, and one South African source calls them edible but often insect-infested; this could not be confirmed by a second reliable source, so they are not listed here as human food. The milky latex can irritate skin and eyes.
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Description
An evergreen shrub or small tree with milky latex, usually up to 6-8 m tall (occasionally more), with smooth grey bark and a spreading crown, typically on rocky wadi banks and cliffs. Leaves simple, alternate, hairless, leathery, lanceolate to elliptic-oblong with entire margins and a pointed tip, 5-20 cm long and 1-6 cm wide, on stalks 1-4 cm long. The tiny unisexual flowers are enclosed inside the fig. Figs small, rounded, 4-9 mm in diameter, stalkless or on short stalks, borne in the leaf axils, whitish turning yellowish-pink to red when ripe.
Habitat
Wadis, wadi banks and cliffs near watercourses, among rocks, and around cultivated areas, up to about 2000 m.
Distribution
Eastern and southern Africa from South Africa north to Sudan and the Saharan mountains, and the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Socotra, the UAE and northern Oman).
Pastoral value
Not a grazing plant. The leaves are poisonous to cattle and have caused fatal nervous disease. The figs are eaten by birds and wild mammals.
Other uses
Traditionally used in the UAE and Oman: the milky sap is applied to skin allergies and the sap of young leaves to scorpion stings; leaves are applied to bruised fingers and toes and to warts; in Oman crushed leaves mixed with lemon were taken for indigestion. The bark is used in tanning and gives leather a red colour. The tree is also planted for shade.
Sources
- الدليل الحقلي المصور للنباتات البرية في سلطنة عُمان (BOOK.pdf p.140)
- A nervous disorder in cattle, caused by the plants Ficus ingens var. ingens and Ficus cordata subsp. salicifolia (1994 veterinary study, University of Pretoria repository) — repository.up.ac.za
- Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants of UAE (Dept. of Health Abu Dhabi) — Ficus cordata — medicinalplants.doh.gov.ae
- POWO — Ficus salicifolia Vahl — powo.science.kew.org
- SANBI PlantZAfrica — Ficus salicifolia — pza.sanbi.org
- Wikipedia — Ficus salicifolia — en.wikipedia.org
- Useful Tropical Plants — Ficus cordata (edible uses: none known) — tropical.theferns.info