Ficus opposita is one of several fig species commonly known as sandpaper figs. It is native to the Northern Territory and Queensland in Australia.Other common names include sweet sandpaper fig,[1] sweet fig[1] and the ambiguous "figwood" and "watery fig".[2]

Sweet sandpaper fig
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Moraceae
Genus: Ficus
Subgenus: F. subg. Sycidium
Species:
F. opposita
Binomial name
Ficus opposita
Synonyms
  • Ficus aculeata var. micracantha (Miq.) Benth.
  • Ficus aculeata Miq.
  • Ficus apolepomena Summerh.
  • Ficus branderhorstii Diels
  • Ficus conjugata Miq.
  • Ficus fitzalanii Miq.
  • Ficus micracantha Miq.
  • Ficus opposita var. micracantha (Miq.) Corner
  • Ficus orbicularis A.Cunn. ex Miq.
  • Ficus xerophila Domin
  • Ficus yarrabensis Domin

It grows as either a shrub or small tree.[1] As the figs ripen, their colour changes from green to yellow to reddish-brown and finally, to black.[1] The fruit is edible and palatable, tastier than most other fig species.[3]

It serves as a food plant for the caterpillars of the Queensland butterfly the common- or purple moonbeam (Philiris innotatus).[4]

The leaves on this plant can treat skin infections such as tinea.[citation needed]

Shown to hybridise with Ficus coronulata.[5]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d Low, T. (1991). Wild Food Plants Of Australia. Australia: Angus & Robertson. ISBN 0-207-16930-6.
  2. ^ "Ficus opposita". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  3. ^ Lindsay, Lenore (March 1992). "Fancy a feast? Try a fig". Australian Plants. 16 (130): 251–52.
  4. ^ Braby, Michael F. (2005). The Complete Field Guide to Butterflies of Australia. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing. p. 228. ISBN 0-643-09027-4.
  5. ^ Wilde, Brendan C.; Rutherford, Susan; Merwe, Marlien van der; Murray, Megan L.; Rossetto, Maurizio (15 July 2020). "First example of hybridisation between two Australian figs (Moraceae)". Australian Systematic Botany. 33 (5): 436–445. doi:10.1071/SB19048. ISSN 1446-5701.