Ficus religiosa and Ficus rumphii, the differences

SPECIES HEAD TO HEAD - More than 850 species in the genus figs (Ficus) have been documented, ranging from large trees to climbing herbs, and to date there are still many species that have not been comprehensively described. Many of them are confused considering what they have in common at first glance. Two species that have similarities and are often confused are sacred fig or Ficus religiosa L and mock bodh tree or Ficus rumphii Blume. Below is the key to identifying these two species.

F. religiosa has cordate leaf bases, while F. rumphii has attenuate leaf bases.

Dlium Ficus religiosa and Ficus rumphii leaf

F. religiosa has fruit with wider and thicker sepals, while F. rumphii has fruit with smaller or no sepals.

Dlium Ficus religiosa and Ficus rumphii fruit

Ficus religiosa
Ficus rumphii

By Aryo Bandoro
Founder of Dlium.com. You can follow him on X: @Abandoro.

Japanese morning glory (Ipomoea nil)

Japanese morning glory ( Ipomoea nil ) is a species of plant in the Convolvulaceae family, a climber with twining stems that grow up to 5 meters long. The green, finely hairy leaves are 14 cm long, heart-shaped at the base, entire or 3-5-lobed, tapering at the edges. The flowers are funnel-shaped, blue to reddish-purple with a whitish tube, 5 cm wide and up to 7 cm long. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Solanales Family: Convolvulaceae Subfamily: Convolvuloideae Tribe: Ipomoeeae Genus: Ipomoea L. in Sp. Pl.: 159 (1753) Species: Ipomoea nil (L.) Roth in Catal. Bot. 1: 36 (1797) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Convolvuloides triloba Moench in Methodus: 452 (1794) Convolvulus nil L. in Sp. Pl., ed. 2.: 219 (1762) Pharbitis nil (L.) Choisy in Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 6: 439 (1833 publ. 1834) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Convolvulus caeruleus (Roxb. ex Ker-Gawl.) Spreng. in Syst. Veg., ed. 16. 1: 593 (1824) Convolvulus coelestis G.Forst. in Fl. Ins...

Moist pimpernel (Lindernia dubia)

Moist pimpernel ( Lindernia dubia ) is a species of plant in the Linderniaceae. It is a herbaceous, ground-growing, erect, cylindrical stem with red to light brown color. The leaves are green, oval, up to 10 mm long, up to 7 mm wide, with rounded tips and reddish veins. The flowers are funnel-shaped, bluish-white, with yellow veins. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Linderniaceae Genus: Lindernia All. in Auct. Syn. Meth. Stirp. Hort. Regii Taur. 3: 178 (1766) Species: Lindernia dubia (L.) Pennell in Monogr. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1: 141 (1935) Variety: Lindernia dubia var. dubia, Lindernia dubia var. rhizomatosa Pennell ex D.Q.Lewis HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Ilysanthes dubia (L.) Barnhart in Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 26: 376 (1899) Ilysanthes gratioloides Benth. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 10: 419 (1846) Gratiola dubia L. in Sp. Pl.: 17 (1753) Limnophila dubia (L.) M.R.Almeida in Fl. Maharashtra 3B: 393 (2001)...

Mountain papaya (Vasconcellea pubescens)

Carica or Dieng papaya or mountain papaya or mountain pawpaw or Carica pubescens or Carica candamarcensis or Vasconcellea cundinamarcensis ( Vasconcellea pubescens ) is a species of plant in the Caricaceae, a small tree, not woody, 1-10 meters high and with many branches. V. pubescens has palmate leaves with 5-7 lobes, thick pubescence on the underside of the leaf, 35 cm wide, peduncle 33 cm long. Male flowers have stalks up to 15 cm long, female flowers are larger with short, hard stalks. The fruit is arranged in a spiral along the stem and one tree can produce 50-60 fruits per year. Fruit is 6-15 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, five corners extending from base to top, green or yellow to orange. The fruit has a sour taste but is fragrant and around the cavity the seeds appear which are encased in a white and watery sarcotesta. The pulp can be eaten raw and is usually cooked as a vegetable. This species grows at an elevation of 1500-3000 meters, temperature 10-28C, soil with good drainage,...

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