BOTANICAL RECORD
Ficus sur Forssk.
Broom-cluster fig · Cape fig · Moraceae
Botany & ecology
Botanical origin source ↗Woodland and moist forests
Botanical reference
- Ficus sur occurs in woodland and moist forests. Habitat alone is insufficient to identify a fig tree.
Documentation and strength of evidence
Documentation: Not assessed
Claimed effect: Not evaluated
Simple leaves and cauliflorous clusters
Botanical reference
- Terrestrial tree reaching about 30 m. Pointed ovate to elliptic leaves, usually 4–20 × 3–13 cm. Round figs 2–4 cm across grow on leafless branchlets arising from the trunk and main branches.
Documentation and strength of evidence
Documentation: Not assessed
Claimed effect: Not evaluated
Several specialised pollinators
Botanical reference
- In West Africa, FigWeb lists Ceratosolen flabellatus and C. silvestrianus. Birds, bats and monkeys eat the figs and disperse seeds. Odo’s visitors remain to be observed.
Documentation and strength of evidence
Documentation: Not assessed
Claimed effect: Not evaluated
A Ghanaian native species
Botanical reference
- Kew includes Ghana in the native range of Ficus sur. This biogeographic origin does not establish the age or history of individual Odo trees. Abundance on the property is not a regional inventory.
Documentation and strength of evidence
Documentation: Not assessed
Claimed effect: Not evaluated
Value for regeneration at Odo
Hypothesis
- Management hypothesis: retaining fruiting trees across the valley could support seed-dispersing animals and the arrival of seeds of other species. Test this by observing visitors and seedlings under canopies; no effect has yet been measured at Odo.
Documentation and strength of evidence
Documentation: Not assessed
Claimed effect: Not evaluated
The fig contains the flowers
Botanical reference
- A fig is a syconium: a hollow structure bearing flowers inside and, after fertilisation, many small fruits.
Documentation and strength of evidence
Documentation: Not assessed
Claimed effect: Not evaluated
Record sources 11
Sources and origins
Phytochemical Insights into Ficus sur Extracts and Their Biological Activity
- Author or institution
- Sieniawska E et al.
- Publication year
- 2022
- Source link
- View source ↗
- DOI
- 10.3390/molecules27061863
- Type
- Research article
- Geographic origin
- Plant material from Côte d’Ivoire
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-15
Analytical and in vitro experiments; no patients or validated formulation.
Tree diversity and its ecological importance value in organic and conventional cocoa agroforests in Ghana
- Publication year
- 2019
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Research article
- Geographic origin
- Ghana
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-15
Agroforest inventory; no proof of a causal yield benefit from Ficus sur.
Odo Valley figs: occurrence and identification
- Author or institution
- JB
- Publication year
- 2026
- Type
- Direct account
- Geographic origin
- Odo Valley · Busua · Ghana
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-15
- Provenance and context
- JB confirms Ficus sur after comparing photographs: numerous trees, clusters on the trunk and main branches, leafless fruiting branchlets, green figs turning pink to red.
Tree count, height, age, fruiting calendar and individual tree origins are not recorded. No personal culinary or medicinal use has been reported.
Ficus sur — FigWeb
- Author or institution
- Simon van Noort & Jean-Yves Rasplus
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Documentary reference
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-15
Antioxidant activity of the bioactive compounds from the edible fruits and leaves of Ficus sur Forssk. (Moraceae)
- Author or institution
- Ogunlaja OO, Moodley R, Baijnath H, Jonnalagadda SB
- Publication year
- 2022
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Research article
- Geographic origin
- South Africa
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-15
Chemical identification and DPPH/FRAP tests; no demonstration of human therapeutic benefit.
Traditional Knowledge and Consumption of Forest Plant Foods in Ghana
- Author or institution
- Acquah SB, Sraku-Lartey M, Samar SB, Djagbletey GD
- Publication year
- 2018
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Research article
- Geographic origin
- Asante Akim South · Assin South · Offinso, Ghana
- Page, table or passage
- Ghana Journal of Forestry 34(1), 49–70 ; tableau des espèces
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-15
Survey of reported knowledge and uses. Preparations are insufficiently detailed to establish their safety.
Ficus sur — Plants of the World Online
- Author or institution
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Documentary reference
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-15
Mechanisms of anticonvulsant and sedative actions of the ethanolic stem-bark extract of Ficus sur Forssk (Moraceae) in rodents
- Author or institution
- Ishola IO, Olayemi SO, Yemitan OK, Ekpemandudiri NK
- Publication year
- 2013
- Source link
- View source ↗
- DOI
- 10.3923/pjbs.2013.1287.1294
- Type
- Research article
- Geographic origin
- Nigeria
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-15
Abstract of a rodent study; no clinical evidence in humans.
Ficus sur — PROTA
- Author or institution
- PROTA
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Documentary reference
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-15
Ethnobotanical and technical synthesis; no clinical validation or safe dose.
Ficus sur — PlantZAfrica
- Author or institution
- SANBI
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Documentary reference
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-15
South African advice: fruiting months are not transferred to Busua.
Scattered tree species’ leaf litter quality and impact on soil properties in enset homegardens of South Ethiopia: a case for conserving old trees
- Author or institution
- Bireda AY, Honnay O, Everaert M, Muys B, Garo G, Vancampenhout K
- Publication year
- 2026
- Source link
- View source ↗
- DOI
- 10.3389/fsufs.2026.1775874
- Type
- Research article
- Geographic origin
- Gamo highlands, southern Ethiopia
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-15
On-farm observations and a decomposition experiment; different environment from Busua, substantial between-farm variability.