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

Bush sorrel (Hibiscus surattensis)

Bush sorrel ( Hibiscus surattensis ) is a plant species in Malvaceae, annual shrub, crawling on the surface or climbing, up to 3 meters long, thorny stems, green leaves, yellow trumpet flowers, grows wild in forests and canal edges, widely used for vegetables and treatment. H. surattensis has stems with spines and hairs, branching and reddish green. Petiole emerges from the stem with a straight edge to the side, up to 11 cm long, sturdy, thorny, hairy and reddish green. The leaves have a length of 10 cm, width of 10 cm, 3-5 lobed, each has a bone in the middle with several pinnate veins, sharp tip, sharp and jagged edges, wavy, stiff, green surface. Flowers up to 10 cm long, trumpet-shaped, yellow with a purple or brown or red center, solitary, axillary. Epicalyx has forked bracts, linear inner branches, spathulate outer branches. Stalks up to 6-7 cm. The seeds have a length of 3-3.5 mm and a width of 2.5 mm. Bush sorrels grow in pastures, marshes, abandoned fields and plantations, ...

Six new species forming the Sumbana species group in genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg 1798 from Indonesia

NEWS - Sumbawa longhorn ( Nemophora sumbana Kozlov, sp. nov.), Timor longhorn ( Nemophora timorella Kozlov, sp. nov.), shining shade longhorn ( Nemophora umbronitidella Kozlov, sp. nov.), Wegner longhorn ( Nemophora wegneri Kozlov, sp. nov.), long brush longhorn ( Nemophora longipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.), and short brush longhorn ( Nemophora brevipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.) from the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The Lesser Sunda Islands consist of two parallel, linear oceanic island chains, including Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Sawu, Timor, Alor, and Tanimbar. The oldest of these islands have been continuously occurring for 10–12 million years. This long period of isolation has allowed significant in situ diversification, making the Lesser Sundas home to many endemic species. This island chain may act as a two-way filter for organisms migrating between the world's two great biogeographic regions, Asia and Australia-Papua. The recognition of a striking cli...

Perlis fairy lantern (Thismia perlisensis) resembling Thismia arachnites Ridley and Thismia javanica J.J.Sm.

NEWS - Perlis fairy lantern ( Thismia perlisensis Besi & Rusea sp. nov.) was discovered during a scientific expedition in a wetland forest at the foot of a limestone hill, Perlis State Park, resembling Thismia arachnites Ridley (1905) and Thismia javanica J.J.Sm. (1910), but has a prominent reddish dome-shaped annulus. Thismia perlisensis can be easily distinguished from T. arachnites and T. javanica by its blood-red dome-shaped annulus (vs. ring-like with a rim, orange annulus), prominent trilobed stigma with bifid and subulate lobes 1.8 mm long (vs. oblong, truncated stigma), and claviform apex of inner tepal appendage (vs. subulate apex of inner tepal appendage). Stenoendemic to northern Peninsular Malaysia, Perlis State and possibly Langkawi Island. Although there have been sightings of the plant on Langkawi Island, this location is based solely on photos posted on social media. There are currently no specimens or additional information to confirm. The new species grows in...