Ficus middletonii Chantaras. – A New Distributional Record For Central India

Taxonomic Treatment

Ficus middletonii Chantaras., Syst. Bot. 38 (3): 669. 2013; Sudhakar & Murthy, Indian J. Forestry 39 (3): 255. 2016; Paramesh, Sudhakar & Vijaya Bhasker Reedy, Nelumbo 64(1): 329-331. 2022 (Figure 1).

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Tree, up to 11 m tall, deciduous, monoecious; aerial roots absent; branchlets glabrous, young branches puberulous; latex present, milky white; bark greyish, smooth; wood moderately hard. Leaves alternate, broadly ovate, symmetric, 4-8.5 × 3-5 cm, sub-cordate to round at the base, entire or undulate along margins, acute to bluntly acuminate at apex, acumen up to 0.4 cm long, sub-coriaceous, light to dark green above, pale or whitish beneath, reddish when young, glabrous; petiole 3-6 cm long, slender, glabrous, sparsely puberulous, epidermis persistent, articulated near leaf base, 1-2 mm thick; leaf base 3-nerved, midrib prominent beneath, waxy glandular; lateral veins 7–9 pairs, looped at margin; tertiary venation reticulate; cystoliths present only on lower surface of leaves. Stipules lanceolate or broadly ovate to lanceolate, 0.6–1.2 cm long, sometimes up to 2.2 cm long at shoot apices, often forming terminal buds, white puberulous when young, persistent. Figs axillary or just below the leaves, or on old wood, in pairs or solitary, subsessile to peduncled; peduncle 3-5 mm long, puberulous; basal bracts 3, free, ovate-obtuse, 1.4–2.4 × 1.8–2.8 mm, brownish, puberulous, ciliate along margins, persistent; receptacle globose, 0.4- 1.3 cm in diam., white or creamy, with pink or orange dots when ripe, pubescent to tomentose when young, glabrous at maturity; ostiole prominently raised, c. 2 mm in diam.; ostiolar bracts 3, broadly triangular, 0.6–1.3 × 0.8–1.9 mm, brownish, glabrous, ciliate along margins; internal ostiolar bracts oblong or lanceolate, 0.6–1.5 × 0.3–1 mm, brownish, glabrous; internal hairs many, linear or linear to lanceolate, 0.7–1 × 0.2–0.3 mm, translucent, glabrous. Male flowers: few, near ostiole, sessile, 0.7–0.8 mm long; tepals 3 or 4, free or connate at base, broadly ovate, 0.5–0.8 × 0.2–0.3 mm, brown, glabrous; stamen 1, ca. 0.6 mm long, inserted in perianth; anthers oblong, white, ca. 0.4 mm; filaments short. Gall flowers: many, dispersed in the cavity, 1.2– 1.8 mm long, shortly pedicellate, glabrous, tepals 3, free, lanceolate, brownish, glabrous: ovary stipitate, obovoid, 0.8–1 mm long, reddish brown, smooth, style lateral, 0.3–0.4 mm long, brownish; stigma simple. Female flowers: many, scattered along with gal flowers, sessile, 1.5–2 mm long; tepals 3 or 4, free, lanceolate, 0.6–1 × 0.2–0.3 mm, white with brownish tinge, glabrous: ovary ovoid or globose, 0.7– 1 mm in diam., reddish brown, smooth: style lateral, 0.8–1 mm long, brownish, glabrous; stigma simple. Achenes ovoid to obovoid, 1.2–1.4 mm in diam., reddish brown, surface smooth or smooth at top reticulate at base.

Flowering & Fruiting: January - March.

Distribution and Habitat: Few individuals have been noticed along water bodies during survey in Chhattisgarh state. It is rarely distributed in South India (Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu & Telangana) & Thailand, now from Chhattisgarh state.

Specimens Examined: Chhattisgarh: near pallari village, Kondagaon mandal, Kondagaon district, 19˚61’57.89”N, 081˚67’63.46”E; alt. 604 m.a.s.l, 11.02.2024, Chandramohan 008.

Note: It is highly variable species and closely allied to Ficus virens but differs in having leaves with short acumen, white puberulous stipules, shorter basal bracts, tomentose, ostiolar bracts glabrous and margins ciliate.