Ficus scassellatii is a tree that grows up to 20 metres tall in the north of its range, but can reach up to 50 metres in other areas. Buttresses are often present in old specimens.
It often starts life as an epiphyte in the branch of a tree and can eventually send down aerial roots that, once they reach the ground, provide extra nutrients that help the plant grow more vigorously. These aerial roots can completely encircle the trunk of the host tree, constricting its growth - this, coupled with the more vigorous top growth, can lead to the fig outcompeting and killing the tree in which it is growing.
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a source of fibre. It is planted for amenity value and to provide shade.

Known Hazards

None

Habitat

Rain-forest; lakesides; riverine; ground-water forest; open places along the coast; evergreen bushland with scattered trees; also, as isolated trees left from cleared vegetation; mixed evergreen forest; disturbed forest at elevations to 2,200 metres.

Cultivation Status

Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Fig trees have a unique form of fertilization, each species relying on a single, highly specialized species of wasp that is itself totally dependent upon that fig species in order to breed.
The trees produce three types of flower; male, a long-styled female and a short-styled female flower, often called the gall flower. All three types of flower are contained within the structure we usually think of as the fruit.
The female fig wasp enters a fig and lays its eggs on the short styled female flowers while pollinating the long styled female flowers. Wingless male fig wasps emerge first, inseminate the emerging females and then bore exit tunnels out of the fig for the winged females. Females emerge, collect pollen from the male flowers and fly off in search of figs whose female flowers are receptive. In order to support a population of its pollinator, individuals of a Ficus spp. must flower asynchronously. A population must exceed a critical minimum size to ensure that at any time of the year at least some plants have overlap of emission and reception of fig wasps. Without this temporal overlap the short-lived pollinator wasps will go locally extinct.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

None known

Agroforestry Uses

None Recorded

Other Uses

The bark is fibrous. Traditionally, the bark is used to make a cloth - it is first removed from the bole and large branches, then soaked in water for several days, dried in the shade and then beaten with a mallet to make it supple enough for use.

Propagation

Seed