Bio Diversity Park

Common Name : Elephant Ear Fig, Roxburgh Fig

Hindi Name : तिमला | Scientific Name : Ficus auriculata
Family : Moraceae
Uses : Leaves are crushed and the paste is applied on the wounds. They are also used in diarrhoea and dysentery. Leaves are lopped for fodder. Stem bark juice is effective for diarrhoea, cuts and wounds. Fruits are edible and can be made into jams and curries. Roasted figs are taken for diarrhoea and dysentery. Root latex is used in mumps, cholera, diarrhoea and vomiting.
Native: India, Nepal
General Description:

It is a fig tree with very large leaves, reminding one of elephant ears. The young leaves start intensely red, and turn more and more green when reaching their ultimate size of up to 50cm length. It is a tree 5-10m tall, with crown wide, and a bole diameter of 10-15cm. Bark is grey, smooth. Branchlets are sparsely pubescent. Stipules, falling off soon, are ovate-lanceolate, 1-1.5cm. Leaves are alternately arranged, carried on 4-6cm long stalks. They are obovate-elliptic to elliptic, 12-25 × 6-23cm, papery, densely small tuberculate on the underside, hairless above, base shallowly heart-shaped to broadly wedge-shaped, margin irregularly toothed. Figs are clustered on short branchlets of old stems, sometimes even on the roots of the tree. They are dark red when mature, pear-shaped to spherical, with 4-6 longitudinal ridges and small tubercles. They are large for figs, 2-3.5cm in diameter, covered with soft hairs. Figs are edible and sweet.