Ara Diamond (Ficus Tincforia Var Gibbosa)

RM25.00

Ficus tinctoria, also known as dye fig, or humped fig is a hemiepiphytic tree of genus Ficus. It is also one of the species known as strangler fig.^[3]

It is found in Asia, Malesia, northern Australia, and the South Pacific islands.^[3] It grows in moist valleys.^[4]

Palms are favorable host species. Root systems of dye fig can come together to be self sustaining but the epiphyte usually falls if the host tree dies or rots away.^[5]

In Australia it is recorded as a medium-sized tree with smooth, oval green leaves.^[3] It is found often growing in rocky areas or over boulders.^[3] The leaves are asymmetrical.^[6]

The small rust brown fruit of the dye fig are the source of a red dye used in traditional fabric making in parts of Oceania and Indonesia.

The fruit is also edible and constitute as a major food source in the low-lying atolls of Micronesia and Polynesia.^[7]