Moraceae: Ficeae

A pantropical genus of terrestrial and hemi-epiphytic trees and shrubs or climbers with a unique inflorescence (syconium, fig). This forms the basis of a unique and complex pollination system requiring flowering phenologies that make mature inflorescences highly important as food source for forest animals. Large-scale economic value is confined to production of indoor and outdoor ornamental trees. The genus, the largest of the 37 genera of the family, comprises about 735 species worldwide and 367 currently recognised in the Malesian region. The introductory part consists of chapters on distribution, ecology, classification, morphology, pollen morphology (by J.M. Langeveld & R.W.J.M. van der Ham), microscopic characters of the leaf, wood anatomy (by P. Baas), pollination, dispersal, uses, and spot characters. General and regional keys to the species are given. For each species references, synonymy, a description with distribution, habitat, and often also notes on characters, relationships, etc. are presented. The genus is subdivided into six subgenera (for page-specification see next page). Within the sections or subsections the species are arranged in numerical order. A list of dubious and excluded names is added. The treatment is illustrated with 133 illustrations (line drawings and photographs), and 18 maps.