Cook Islands Biodiversity Database

Species Page

Back to: «« Search Page | « Results Page

Add to My List

Ficus tinctoria

Mati

Dye Fig

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Leaves and fruit	62KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Dye Fig, Humped Fig, Humped Fig Tree

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Mati (RR MG AT MK MT AK), Welo (PK); Other Polynesian - Masi (TON), Mati (SAM)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE (species) India - s.China - Indonesia/n.Australia - Societies

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Land, lowlands - mountains (+)

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Locally endangeredMedicine, Material (Dye)

KEY FEATURES: A climbing strangler, forming a tree with prop-roots, to 25m. LEAVES alternate, oval, to 18x9cm; glossy dark green above, pale green below; edge smooth; tip round; base round, often asymmetrial; stalk tick, to 15mm. FRUIT in axils, usually paired; round to 15mmØ, ripening through orange to red or purple.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+	++	+++	+	++	+	-	-	-

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	++		-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Ficus tinctoria J.R.Forster & G.Forster
SYNONYMS: Ficus tinctoria tinctoria [eastward from Indonesia/n.Australia/Taiwan]

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); HAMAMELIDAE; Urticales; MORACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
BIODIVERSITY: Locally endangered. Comment: Uncommon; NBSAP - Takitumu (5 of 6 wild plants), NBSAP - Puaikura (2 of 3 wild plants), NBSAP - Aitutaki (4 of 5 wild plants)
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Medicine, Material (Dye)

GENERAL NOTE: A.C.Smith (Flora Vitiensis Nova, 1981) treats Ficus prolixa and Ficus tinctoria as indigenous in Fiji and Polynesia, but also concludes that Corner (1975) might be corrrect in suggesting that they were Aboriginal Introductions because their fruits and young leaves could have been an emergency food. Corner also noted that Ficus tinctoria was the most widespread banyan: India - southern China - Indonesia/n.Australia - Polynesia. Our subspecies F. t. tinctoria has a range Philippines/Taiwan - Indonesia/n.Australia - Micronesia and Polynesia

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Ficus tinctoria.

References:
p.474 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.2/191 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.296 I Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.41 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.377d Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM03a, zD05a

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
Please refer to our use policy.

Biodiversity Database: More Options | Help

My List: View List | Edit List | Clear List