Ficus L. subg. Sycidium (Miq.) Mildbr. & Burret sect. Palaeomorphe Miq. King
Content
Description
Lianas (of the straggling type) or creepers, with short adventitious roots on stems and branches (in touch with the substrate), hemi-epiphytes, or terrestrial shrubs or treelets, with continuous growth.
internal hairs mostly absent, if present, then mostly sparse and/or short.
Leaves distichous, asymmetric to symmetric, often smooth above, base mostly inequilateral and at one side decurrent and then often auriculate (or lobed);
stipules semi-amplexicaul or fully amplexicaul.
Fruits achenes, lens-shaped and weekly keeled.
Distribution
Malesian region present, Solomon Islands endemic
The section comprises 30 species, all but F. corneriana C.C. Berg (2000: 397) endemic to the Solomon Islands, occurring in the Malesian region, and most of them confined to this region.
Taxonomy
Sect. Palaeomorphe comprises 29 species, which can be ranked into two major informal subdivisions: the F. subulata-group and the F. tinctoria-group.
A. Berg, C.C. 2000: Ficus corneriana, a new species of Ficus subg. Sycidium sect. Palaeomorphe. – Blumea 45, B. Corner, E.J.H. 1960: Taxonomic notes on Ficus Linn., Asia and Australasia. IV. Subgen. Ficus sect. Sycidium. – Gard. Bull. Singapore 17, C. Corner, E.J.H. 1965: Check-list of Ficus in Asia and Australasia with keys to identification. – Gard. Bull. Singapore 21
- a. Ficus subulata-group (ser. Cuspidatae, ser. Fibrosifoliae, ser. Minutiflorae, and ser. Subulatae, as recognized by Corner 1960). — This group of essentially lianescent plants is distinctly centred in western Malesia and shows a concentration of species in Borneo, where about 2/3 of the species are found, several of them endemics. Two species are endemic to Sumatra and one to the Philippines. Several species extend to the Asian mainland, including the most widespread species, F. subulata, which ranges from Sikkim to the Solomon Islands. Only four species, F. armiti, F. aurita, F. funiculicaulis, and F. gracillima, are elements of the eastern part of the Malesian region. They might be more or less closely related.
The F. subulata-group comprises 23 Malesian species: F. armitii, F. aurita, F. cuspidata, F. funiculicaulis, F. gracillima, F. grewiifolia, F. hemsleyana, F. heteropleura, F. jaheriana, F. kuchinensis, F. lasiocarpa, F. leptocalama, F. microsphaera, F. midotis, F. obscura, F. parietalis, F. pisifera, F. rubrocuspidata, F. rubromidotis, F. sinuata, F. stipata, F. subulata, F. uniglandulosa, and F. corneriana from the Solomon Islands.
Mesophyll-fibres (see p. 12) are found in the laminas of several species of this group: F. grewiifolia, F. hemsleyana, F. jaheriana, F. leptocalma, F. midotis, F. obscura, F. pisifera, F. rubrocuspidata, F. rubromidotis, and F. uniglandulosa; these species have been ranked in ser. Fibrosifoliae by Corner (1960, 1965), but the variation patterns in the F. subulata-group as a whole do not allow recognition of subgroups. The F. subulata-group is rather diverse, as with regard to indumentum, shape and dimensions of the lamina, the venation of the lamina, and the dimensions of the fig receptacle. - b. Ficus tinctoria-group (ser. Pallidae, as recognized by Corner 1960). — In contrast to the F. subulata-group the tree habit is predominant in this group, which is associated with the eastern part of the Malesian region, although the distribution of F. tinctoria may indicate that the group originated on the Asian mainland (or in western Malesia). Overall dissimilarities rather than technical ones separate this group from the much larger and variable F. subulata-group. The minor differences include the greenish dried laminas and ± stiff stipules, the absence of, or the very sparse, indumentum, and the figs predominantly borne in the leaf axils or just below the leaves. The group comprises four closely related species: F. celebensis, F. inaequifolia, F. tinctoria, and F. virgata, and it may include F. anastomosans and F. cauta as well (see p. 265 and 268). Three of the species can easily be recognized: F. celebensis by its narrow leaves, F. inaequifolia by the usually relatively large leaves with rather long and abruptly acuminate apices and distinct scalariform venation, and F. cauta by the long basal lateral veins. Separating F. virgata from F. tinctoria (subsp. tinctoria) is far less easy (as discussed under the former.