ficus

fi·cus

F0104700 (fī′kəs)n. pl. ficus also fi·cus·es Any of numerous tropical or subtropical trees, shrubs, or vines of the genus Ficus, especially F. benjamina, commonly grown as a houseplant.

[Latin fīcus, fig.]

ficus

(ˈfiːkəs) n (Plants) any plant of the genus Ficus, which includes the edible fig and several greenhouse and house plants. See rubber plant, weeping ivy

fig¹

(fɪg)

n. 1. any tree or shrub of the genus Ficus, of the mulberry family, bearing syconia as its fruit. 2. the turbinate or pear-shaped fruit of such a tree or shrub. 3. a contemptibly trifling amount; the least bit: Their help wasn't worth a fig. 4. a gesture of contempt. [1175–1225; Middle English fige < Old French < Old Provençal figa « Latin fīcus]

fig²

(fɪg)

n. 1. dress or array: to appear at a party in full fig. 2. condition: to feel in fine fig. [1685–95; earlier feague to liven, whip up < German fegen to furbish, sweep, clean; akin to fair¹]

fig.

1. figurative. 2. figuratively. 3. figure.

Thesaurus

Noun

Ficus - large genus of tropical trees or shrubs or climbers including fig treesgenus Ficusdicot genus, magnoliopsid genus - genus of flowering plants having two cotyledons (embryonic leaves) in the seed which usually appear at germinationfamily Moraceae, Moraceae, mulberry family - trees or shrubs having a milky juice; in some classifications includes genus Cannabisfig tree - any moraceous tree of the tropical genus Ficus; produces a closed pear-shaped receptacle that becomes fleshy and edible when matureFicus aurea, Florida strangler fig, golden fig, strangler fig, wild fig - a strangler tree native to southern Florida and West Indies; begins as an epiphyte eventually developing many thick aerial roots and covering enormous areasFicus sycomorus, mulberry fig, sycamore fig, sycamore - thick-branched wide-spreading tree of Africa and adjacent southwestern Asia often buttressed with branches rising from near the ground; produces cluster of edible but inferior figs on short leafless twigs; the biblical sycamore

Translations

фикус

Ficus

[′fī·kəs] (botany) A genus of tropical trees in the family Moraceae including the rubber tree and the fig tree. (invertebrate zoology) A genus of gastropod mollusks having pear-shaped, spirally ribbed sculptured shells.

Ficus

(fig), a genus of evergreen and, less commonly, deciduous trees and shrubs of the family Moraceae. There are some prostrate and climbing lianas; the latter climb by means of adventitious roots. Arboreal species reach 40 m in height and 3–5 m in diameter; they form massive roots at the base of the trunk. Many species, for example, the banyan (F. bengalensis), begin life as epiphytes and then form adventitious roots that reach the ground and proliferate into strong columnar supports for the massive crown. The aerial roots of certain epiphytic species strangle the host tree by entwining the trunk.

Fig leaves are usually entire; in some species they reach 60–70 cm in length. All parts of the plant contain a milky juice. The flowers, which have a reduced perianth, are small, usually unisexual, and complexly entomophilous. They develop on the internal surface of a spherical or pear-shaped hollow inflorescence that opens at the apex. The inflorescences form on the branches and on the trunks in the leaf axils. Pollination is performed by hymenopterons of the family Agaonidae. After fertilization a collective fruit, known as a syconium, develops. Each simple fruit of the syconium is dry and single-seeded; the walls of the syconium are either dry or juicy. The fruits of some species, for example, the common fig (F. carica) and the sycamore fig (F. sycomorus), are used as food.

There are more than 800 fig species, distributed in the tropics and, to a lesser extent, subtropics of both hemispheres. The plants are particularly widespread in the tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia, the Malay Archipelago, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. The milky juice of many species contains rubber, but it is not commercially valuable. The rubber plant (F. elastica), which is native to India and Burma and is raised as a houseplant, has a rubber content of as much as 30 percent.

Several fig species, including the common fig and the banyan, are hosts of the scale Tachardia lacca, an insect from which shellac is obtained.

REFERENCES

Fedorov, A. A. “Drevesnye epifity i fikusy-udushiteli v tropicheskikh lesakh Kitaia.” Botanicheskii zhurnal, 1959, vol. 44, no. 10.
Corner, E. J. H. “Ficus in the Solomon Islands and Its Bearing on the Post-Jurassic History of Melanesia.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B. Biological Sciences, 1967, no. 783.

S. S. MORSHCHIKHINA

Acronym

Definition

FICUS➣Florida Internet Center for Understanding Sustainability

Ficus

noun

Synonyms for Ficus

noun large genus of tropical trees or shrubs or climbers including fig trees

Synonyms

genus Ficus

Related Words

dicot genus
magnoliopsid genus
family Moraceae
Moraceae
mulberry family
fig tree
Ficus aurea
Florida strangler fig
golden fig
strangler fig
wild fig
Ficus sycomorus
mulberry fig
sycamore fig
sycamore

ficus

fi·cus

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fig1

fig2

fig.

Ficus

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REFERENCES

FICUS

Ficus

Synonyms for Ficus

noun large genus of tropical trees or shrubs or climbers including fig trees

Synonyms

Related Words

fig¹

fig²