Description

Dye Fig is a climbing strangler, forming a tree with prop-roots, to 25m. Alternately arrange leaves, to 18x9 cm, are oval, glossy dark green above, pale green below, and have rounded tip and base. Leaves are often asymmetrial. Stalks are thick, to 1.5 cm. Fruit is a fig, appearing in leaf axils, usually paired, round, to 1.5 cm, ripening through orange to red or purple. The fruit of dye fig are the source of a red dye used in traditional fabric making in parts of Indonesia. Dye Fig in Malayalam called 'Iti' (Scientific name: Ficus tinctoria, Ficus gibbosa) belongs to the Moraceae family and is found in Kerala. Also known as Udumbara Pluksha in Sanskrit. It is a tree belonging to the genus Al. Milky stain is found on the tree.

Characteristics:

Small tree usually hemi epiphyte. Bark gray. Branchlets brown. Stipules lanceolate, Leaves distichous, leaf blade elliptic to ovate-elliptic, base broadly cuneate, margin entire or toothed, apex acute. Figs axillary on leafy shoots, solitary and paired, globose, with sparse small tubercles, slightly rough, base attenuate into stalk, peduncle short, involucral bracts ovate, margin revolute when dry. Male flowers near mouth of receptacles, stamens 1, ovary obliquely ovoid, style lateral. Female flowers calyx lobes thin, transparent and linear, style persistent, lateral, short, stigma enlarged. Achenes ellipsoid. Syconus fruit.

Medicinal Uses:

Nalpamaram, which is prominent in Ayurveda, is a combination of fig, peral and arayal. The roots, fruits, bark and leaves are used medicinally. Used as a medicine for diabetes, ulcers and skin diseases. He is also a member of the Panchayat. The skin contains tannin, wax and saponin. It is used to cleanse the blood, lower blood sugar levels in diabetics, and as an excellent remedy for leprosy, vaginal diseases, hemorrhoids and phlegm. It has almost all the benefits of figs.