2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Ficus (lat. Ficus) - numerous genus of plants
family Mulberry (lat. Mraceae) … The species with the Latin name "Ficus carica" is one of the most ancient plants cultivated by man. For at least eleven thousand years, people have been cultivating this species of the Ficus genus for the sake of its nourishing and healthy fruits, which we call "figs".
Description
The variety of species allows plants to take on a very different shape, and therefore, depending on environmental conditions, it can be a branchy shrub, a tall tree, or a liana clinging to a support. Moreover, many ficuses, before becoming full-fledged representatives of terrestrial vegetation, live on supports, like plants called "epiphytes" by botanists. When their roots grow to the surface of the earth, the plants become fixed in the soil, turning into truly ground ones, possessing a powerful support that holds the fantastically wide crown of the tree. Although "epiphytes" are called plants that do not threaten the life of the supporting plants that have sheltered them, ficuses, possessing powerful roots, sometimes take the life of their "landlord" with too strong friendly hugs.
Ficus leaves also differ in variety. For example, "Ficus rubbery" and "Ficus Benjamin" have solid leaves, with a smooth edge, oval in shape, and Ficus caricus, which is also called "Fig tree", has lobed leaves, familiar to all people from the picture where Adam and Eve cover their intimate places with "fig leaves". In tropical areas, the leaves are evergreen, but there are also deciduous species of Ficus.
The flowers of Ficuses are very small and shy, and therefore their inflorescence is hidden inside a hollow spherical receptacle, at the top of which there is a hole for wasps with long proboscis, which pollinate the flowers, transferring pollen from male flowers to female ones, and also lay their own eggs here. Such a commonwealth of wasps and Ficuses is an amazing natural phenomenon.
From pollinated female flowers, single-seeded fruits are born, located inside a hollow receptacle. Therefore, what people usually call a Ficus fruit, for example, a fig, is in fact a harmoniously arranged natural structure that gives shelter to numerous small fruits surrounded by a soft nutritive shell. Botanists called such "fruits" the word "Sikonius". The fruits of most species of plants of the genus Ficus are edible, however, only the "fig", "syconium" of the Fig tree, gained worldwide popularity and has been cultivated by humans since ancient times.
Latex flows through the plant vessels of all Ficus species, the color of which varies from white to yellowish. The amount of latex released varies from species to species. The leader in latex is Ficus rubbery, which is used to produce rubber.
Varieties
The genus of plants Ficus is quite numerous, with more than eight hundred species in its ranks. Among them, the most famous are the following:
* Ficus carica, or Carian (lat. Ficus carica), called the Fig tree, fig tree, Fig …
* Ficus elastic, or rubbery (lat. Ficus elastica).
* Ficus benjamina (Latin Ficus benjamina) is a popular houseplant.
* Ficus lyre (lat. Ficus lyrata), characterized by picturesque leaves.
* Blunted ficus (lat. Ficus retusa).
* Dwarf ficus (lat. Ficus pumila).
* Ficus varifolia (lat. Ficus diversifolia).
Usage
Scientists believe that the Fig tree or Fig is the very first plant that people began to specially grow for their own needs. It is interesting that the fresh fruits of the tree are not rich in useful components, but when dried, the fruits become very high in calories, quickly satisfying a person's hunger. In addition, the dry fruit contains a dietary mineral, manganese, and some other minerals useful for the human body, as well as vitamin "K".
Several types are popular indoor plants that successfully purify indoor air from harmful emissions of modern finishing materials.
Ficus elastic serves as a source of rubber.
Ficus and folk healers are used to treat human ailments.
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Ficus Sacred
Ficus sacred It is also known under the names of ficus religiosa, sacred figs, pipal and religious ficus, in Latin the name of this plant will sound like this: Ficus religiosa. The sacred ficus is one of the plants of the family called mulberry, in Latin this name will be like this:
Ficus Carica
Ficus carica belongs to a family called mulberry. In Latin, the name of the plant sounds like this: Ficus carica. Description of ficus caricum This plant is sometimes also known under the following names: fig, fig tree, fig, fig tree and wine berry.
Edible Fruits And Ordinances Of Ficus
Most Russians can name two or three species of plants from the genus Ficus growing in homes and offices, while the encyclopedic Internet project "The Plant List" has eight hundred forty-one (841) species in the ranks of the genus. The fruits of most Ficus species, despite the toxic latex flowing inside the stems and trunks of plants, are quite edible. However, among such a variety of species that adorn our fragile planet, humans have singled out only one species, which since ancient times has
Ficus Elastic, Or Rubbery
Ficus elastic, or rubbery (lat.Ficus elastica) - evergreen plant of the genus Ficus family Mulberry (lat.Mraceae) … In natural conditions of warm tropics, the plant is a tall, spreading tree. In areas where winter frosts do not allow the plant to grow in the open air, Ficus is grown as a houseplant, gently wiping dust from its oval hard leaves.
Ficus Is Tasteless, Or Fig Is Tasteless
Tasteless Ficus, or Tasteless Fig (lat.Ficus insipida) - an evergreen plant of the Ficus genus, ranked by botanists as the Mulberry family (lat.Mraceae) … This species is famous for its powerful roots, soft wood and inner bark, from which the natives of America made paper before the arrival of the European colonialists.