Skip to main content

Common red stem fig (Ficus variegata)

Nyawai or common red stem fig (Ficus variegata) is a tree species in Moraceae, height up to 30-40 m and diameter 85-100 cm, buttresses up to 2 m and smooth surface, unisexual flowers, fruit buds appear directly on the stem and grow solitary in the tropics.

F. variegata has a single leaf, scattered, ovoid, heart-shaped base and pointed tip. Thin leaves with a size of 9-25x4-12 cm. Secondary veins for 4-8 pairs with base arranged like fingers and stem length of 2.5-18 cm.

Dlium Common red stem fig (Ficus variegata)

Female flowers consist of an elongated and white stylus, ovaries, red colored calyx and pedicles. A flower bud becomes a ripe fruit for around 2-3 months. This tree starts to bear fruit at a young age.

Common red stem fig species require full sunlight, often found in burned natural forests and scattered along with other pioneer plants including jabon (Anthocephalus cadamba), mahang (Macaranga spp.), benuang bini (Octomeles sumatrana) and nuklea (Nauclea sp.) .

Nyawai grows at an altitude of 0-1000 m, rainfall 1700-3900 mm per year with an average of 148-266 mm per month and 9-14 days/month, temperature 21-32C and humidity 70-84%, pH 4.5 -5.2 on the soil of the red-yellow podsolic group with flat to moderate undulating topography.

The flowering and fruiting period is from May to June. Mature fruit has a variety of colors including dark green, reddish green to blackish red. Measuring around 34 mm and round, clustered and attached to the trunk and branches.







A tree can be found immature fruit and ripe fruit at once. Ripe fruit has a sweet taste and is liked by apes, birds, anteaters, porcupines and wild boars. The fruit contains very small and intermediate seeds with an amount of 3-5 million grains/kg.

Wood is brightly colored, whitish yellow and has a good complexion. The heating value is 4.225 cal/gram, the specific gravity is 0.20-0.43 and is classified in the strength class V and durability class V-III. It does not require special treatment to produce a good 1.5 mm veneer with a 910 peel angle.

Wood contains 74.42% holocellulose, 27.97% lignin, 19.75% pentosan, 2.84% ash and 0.439% silica. The wood will dry out within 11 days with a 50% moisture content to be reduced to 13% at a temperature of 20-33 C and humidity 62-85%.

Wood is used as plywood for face veneer, very good for temporary building construction, molding, interior, drawers, boxes for fruit and raw materials for pulp and paper. Leaves for deer feed. Fast growing trees are often used for reforestation and restoring degraded land.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Moraceae
Genus: Ficus
Species: Ficus variegata
Varieties: Ficus variegata var. chlorocarpa, Ficus variegata var. garciae

Popular Posts

A deep-sea isopod Bathyopsurus nybelini adapted to feed submerged Sargassum algae

NEWS - Incredible footage shows a marine species, Bathyopsurus nybelini , feeding on something that sinks from the ocean’s surface. Researchers using the submersible Alvin found the isopod swimming 3.7 miles down using its paddle-like legs to catch an unexpected food source: Sargassum. Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the University of Montana, SUNY Geneseo, Willamette University and the University of Rhode Island found the algae sinking, while the isopod waited and adapted specifically to find and feed on the sinking nutrient source. The Sargassum lives on the surface for photosynthesis. The discovery of a deep-sea animal that relies on food that sinks from the waters miles above underscores the close relationship between the surface and the deep. “It’s fascinating to see this beautiful animal actively interacting with sargassum, so deep in the ocean. This isopod is extremely rare; only a handful of specimens were collected during the groundbreaking Swedis...

Pink poui (Tabebuia rosea)

Pink poui ( Tabebuia rosea ) is a species of plant in the Bignoniaceae, a small neotropical tree, growing up to 30 meters tall and up to 100 cm in diameter. It has layered and irregular branches, with gray to brown bark and vertical fissures. The leaves are compound, finger-shaped, five-petaled, length up to 33 cm, width up to 15 cm and long stalk up to 9 cm. The flowers are large, bright red or purple or white, fan-shaped, up to 9 cm long, up to 8 cm wide. The fruit capsule is slender and up to 35 cm long. The fruit dries and dehisces, producing anemochorous seeds with hyaline membrane wings. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Bignoniaceae Genus: Tabebuia Gomes ex DC. in Biblioth. Universelle Genève, n.s., 17: 130 (1838) Species: Tabebuia rosea (Bertol.) DC. in Prodr. 9: 215 (1845) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Couralia rosea (Bertol.) Donn.Sm. in Bot. Gaz. 20: 9 (1895) Sparattosperma roseum (Bertol.) Miers in Proc....

Hairy senna (Senna hirsuta)

Hairy senna ( Senna hirsuta ) is a species of plant in the Fabaceae family. It is an upright shrub, growing up to 2.5 meters tall. The leaves are compound on petioles up to 13 cm long. They usually have 2-6 pairs of leaflets, are egg-shaped, and have white hairs, up to 10 cm long and 5 cm wide. The flowers are yellow and arranged at the tips of branches and in the upper leaf axils in clusters of 2-5. The petals are 12-16 mm long, have 6 stamens, 3-8 mm long anthers, and 4 staminodes. Flowering occurs almost monthly. The pods are cylindrical, up to 15 cm long, 4-6 mm wide, and curved. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae Tribe: Cassieae Subtribe: Cassiinae Genus: Senna Mill. in Gard. Dict. Abr., ed. 4.: [s.p.] (1754) Species: Senna hirsuta (L.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby in Phytologia 44: 499 (1979) Variety: Senna hirsuta var. acuminata (Benth.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby, Senna ...