Ficus xylophylla (Wall. ex Miq.) Miq., Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugd. Bat. 3 (1867)

Latin for 'with tough leaves'.

Synonyms
Urostigma xylophyllum Wall. ex Miq.

Diagnostics
Mid-canopy (strangling) tree up to 39 m tall and 56 cm dbh. Stem with white sap. Stipules ca. 30 mm long, hairy. Leaves alternate, simple, tripli-veined, glabrous. Fruits ca. 31 mm long, yellow-orange, elongate figs, placed in whorls along the twigs.

Description
Monoecious small to medium-sized tree, or more frequently strangler. Bark pale pinkish grey, smooth. Twigs stout, 1-1.2 cm thick, strongly ridged. Stipules ovate to lanceolate, c. 3.5 cm long, hairy outside, caducous. Leaves spirally arranged, very thick-coriaceous, cardboard-like, glabrous, drying yellowish brown above; usually obovate, 13.5-27 x 6.5- 14 cm, base cuneate, margin entire, revolute, apex obtuse or rounded; midrib sunken above; lateral vein 4-7 pairs, looping and joining near the leaf margin, prominently raised below, raised above except basal pair which is sunken, basal pair extending up to 1/ 2 the length of the blade; intercostal venation reticulate, lax, visible below, invisible above; petiole 4-6 cm long, wrinkled when dry. Syconia axillary, sessile, solitary or in pairs, ripening orange and then purplish red, oblong, 3-4.5 x 2-2.8 cm, apex flat, surface rugose on drying; basal bracts persistent, 10-14 mm long, ovate, triangular, acute, keeled, concealed by the syconia; internal bristles absent. Tepals 2-4, lanceolate to subspathulate. Achenes tuberculate. [from Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak]

Ecology
In undisturbed coastal, (peat)-swamp, keranga and mixed dipterocarp forests up to 100 m altitude. Common on alluvial (swampy)sites, but also on hillsides and ridges on sandy soils.

Uses
The brightly coloured figs and the leaves are attractive enough to introduce this plant in landscaping.

Distribution
Indo-China, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo.

Local names in Borneo
Ara, Arah, Kara, Kara tungkul, Kayu alar, Kayu ara.