2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
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. The fruits of this species, although edible, but, as the specific epithet correctly indicates, tasteless, and therefore are not held in high esteem by people. But some representatives of the animal world eat them with pleasure.
Misty Woods Dweller
Tasteless Ficus is home to the tropical forests of South America, in which the bizarre outlines of tree roots create fabulous landscapes emerging from the fog, a frequent visitor to the humid tropics, located at altitudes of more than 1,500 meters above sea level. No wonder the peoples who inhabited the American continent before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors used Ficus in ritual ceremonies, feeling its witchcraft power.
Description
Not only are the fruits of this type of Ficus not attractive in their taste, in the early stages of its life the plant poses a threat to the trees that it attracted as a support. The tasteless ficus inserts its suckers into the victim's trunk, feeding on its reserves and dooming the tree to death. Growing up, Ficus buries a number of its aerial roots, which have grown to the surface of the earth, into the soil, creating a reliable support for its powerful aerial part, which reaches a height of forty meters in favorable conditions. A solid "wall" of roots gives the impression of a board, and therefore such roots are called "board-like". Sometimes the board-like roots form a kind of hut, in which you can comfortably settle down for the night.
The shape and size of hard leaves depend on living conditions. Leaves can be narrow and short, from five centimeters long and two centimeters wide, or lanceolate, up to twenty-five centimeters long and up to eleven centimeters wide. On the surface of the sheet plate, a light main vein and thinner transverse veins are clearly distinguished, turning the sheet into a semblance of a school notebook into a ruler. But the leaves are not used as paper, but from the inner bark of the plant, American aborigines made paper.
Typical for plants of the genus Ficus are its small flowers, hiding inside a protective ball, which after pollination turns into a small tasteless fruit. If people do not like Ficus fruits, then dexterous monkeys nimbly climb the branches, eating the delicacy. Fallen fruits go to tropical animals, outwardly similar to our pigs, but with thick hair. The locals called them the word "bakers" (with an emphasis on the letter "e").
Amat or Amate
Tasteless ficus has a popular name
"Amate" or
"Amat", whose origins are in pre-Columbian America. American Indians made paper from the inner bark of Ficus tawny, on which they wrote Maya codices, which are folding books like the Russian accordion. This paper was much stronger than papyrus, and the surface of the paper was better for writing. This type of paper was known under the name "amatl", and therefore the Ficus was called "amate". It is possible that the sequence was reversed, that is, the name of the paper came from the name of the tree "amate".
With the arrival of the Spaniards, the production of paper was banned, since paper was used in the religious sacraments of the local population, which frightened the conquerors. But in remote villages, people continued to make paper, and therefore the production process remained alive. In the twentieth century, the production of this type of paper was resumed at the scale required by the market.
Other uses
The tasteless ficus, like its relatives, has reserves of latex, which were collected by the aborigines and used for medicinal purposes. However, the toxicity of latex requires careful handling.
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