Ficus sycomorus L.
F. gnaphalocarpa (Miq.) Steud. ex A. Rich
Eng.: Sycamore fig, fig-mulberry. Spa.: Sicomoro. Fre.: Figuier sycomore, sycamore. Ara.: Jummayz, gemmayz, gemmeiz, djibayé (Hassanía), djimeïz (Choua). Tamahaq: Ori, oré, bawré, boré.
Trees up to 20 m in height, with patent branches. Bark yellow to creamy; hispid branches. Leaves papery, dark green, ovate-cordate, heart-shaped base and rounded to obtuse apex; margin entire to crenate; with 5-8 secondary veins on each side of the midrib, which diverge at 40-50 ° angles and a basal pair of veins that travel over half the length of the leaf blade; leaf blade pubescent on both sides, scabrid on the upper half, 4.6-10 × 2.4-9 cm; petiole 0.3-3.6 cm in length. Male flowers ostiolar, with 4 free or fused tepals and 2(1) stamens per flower. Female flowers with 3 tepals, free or fused. Syconia pear-shaped, yellow to red when ripe, grouped in racemes on the trunk and branches of the previous year, without bracts; 2-2.2 cm, villous, turbinate or subglobose-depressed, with lax short tomentum; peduncle 0.6-2 cm long; external, ostiolar bracts imbricated.
Flowering:
March to May.
Fruiting:
May to August.
Habitat:
Savannahs and margins of wadis and rivers, from sea level to 2,000 m.
Distribution:
Widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, from the Arabian Peninsula in the NE to Namibia and South Africa (Natal) in the S. In the area covered by this project there are some populations in the Emi Koussi (Tibesti Massif, —Chad—) and in other somewhat mountainous areas of Egypt and Sudan.
Conservation status:
Common and widely distributed species, it does not seem threatened. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. However, the Saharan populations, that can be considered of high genetic and biogeographic value, are threatened by logging and desertification.