ઉંબરો

Ficus racemosa

Cluster Fig

Native

Commonly known as Country Fig, Gular Fig, Goolar, Umardo.

A large fig tree, 20-30 metres tall, whose deeply buttressed trunk grows more pronounced with age, and whose fruit famously grows in dense clusters directly on the trunk and larger branches rather than at the branch tips. Like every fig, it depends on a single, highly-specialised wasp species for pollination, a relationship so precise that a population of trees must flower asynchronously and stay large enough that some tree, somewhere, is always ready to receive the short-lived wasps.

The plant

Habit Tree

Origin Native

Flowering Summer, Monsoon, Winter

Edible Yes

Growing it

Sun Full sun to part shade

Drainage Needs to drain well

Life it supports

Entirely dependent on a single specialised fig-wasp species for pollination.

How to grow it

Can be grown for years in a large container (30-50 litres) with excellent drainage, given maximum light and appropriate warmth, many tropical fig species make attractive indoor plants even without fruiting.
Use a quality potting mix with added perlite, and repot every 1-2 years or top-dress annually with fresh compost.
It needs the brightest position available, a south-facing window, conservatory, or greenhouse, along with warmth (minimum 15°C) and humidity, misting or a humidity tray helps, and supplemental grow lights can help through winter.

The story

Ayurveda describes Umbar (as it's called there) as cold, fertility-promoting, and astringent, with different properties attributed to raw, medium-ripe, and fully ripe fruit, ranging from thirst-relieving and bile-balancing to treating dysentery and fainting.

What it is used for

Fruit is eaten raw or cooked, used in preserves and side dishes, or dried and ground into a flour eaten with sugar and milk; roasted fruit powder makes a valued breakfast food.
In times of scarcity, unripe fruit is pounded with flour into cakes.
Leaves and young shoots are eaten as a vegetable, and cutting the roots yields a liquid that can be drunk as water.
Leaves treat diarrhoea; bark and fruit, both astringent, treat blood in urine, heavy menstrual bleeding, and coughing blood, and sugar-filled fruit is considered especially cooling.
A tonic fluid exuded from cut roots, drunk over several days, is considered a powerful restorative, and root sap is a well-known Mumbai remedy for mumps and glandular swelling.
Root is also chewed for tonsillitis.

These uses are documented for information only and are not medical advice. Always verify the species and the plant part before use.

Where it is found

Southern China, the Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, and Australia, common along riverbanks in open, deciduous, lowland forest.

Sources

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