Can the fruit of the cluster fig be eaten? The latest answer is here
The cluster fig, also known as steamed bun fruit, large fig, large papaya, etc., is a tree or small tree of the genus Ficus in the mulberry family. It is distributed in Vietnam, Pakistan, India, and in China's Sichuan, Hainan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, and other places, and mostly grows in moist rainforests in low mountain valleys. It has not yet been introduced and cultivated artificially. Below, let us take a look at whether the fruit of the cluster fig can be eaten!
Can the fruit of the cluster fig be eaten?
The fruit of the cluster fig can be eaten. The cluster fig bears fruit almost all year round. The flesh is about 0.5-0.8 cm thick, sweet, crisp and crunchy, and can be eaten fresh, or made into candied fruit or salted licorice preserved fruit, etc., but the fig fruit flesh of male cluster fig trees is dry and cannot be eaten.
Distribution of the cluster fig's producing areas
The cluster fig grows in tropical and subtropical valley forests at an altitude of 50-1500 m, and is distributed in Vietnam, Pakistan, India, and in China's Sichuan, Hainan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, and other places.
Morphological characteristics of the cluster fig
1. The cluster fig is an evergreen tree, 3-10 m tall, with a broad crown, brown, rough bark, and hairy young branches.
2. The leaves of the cluster fig are alternate, thinly leathery, broadly ovate to ovate, with a truncate apex, a heart-shaped base, and mostly entire margins.
3. The syconia of the cluster fig are borne on leafless short branches or on the trunk, top-shaped, pear-shaped, or oblate, reddish-brown or purplish-red-brown.
4. The flowers of the cluster fig are unisexual; male flowers and gall flowers are borne together in one receptacle, while male flowers are borne in another receptacle.