Ficus platyphylla
species of plant
Ficus platyphylla is a deciduous tree within the family Moraceae. Common local names include Gamji in Hausa and Gaba or Kobo in Bambara. It is native to western and eastern tropical Africa.
Description
Species grows up to 20 metres (66 ft) tall, the crown is large and spreading while the bark is pale brown with scales and fissures, the species sometimes grows as an Epiphyte. Leaves, alternate, petioles and stipules are present; leaflets are ovate to elliptic in outline, up to 25 centimetres (10 in) long and 17 centimetres (7 in) wide. The fruits are globose in shape, reddish and small, usually between 1–1.5 centimetres (0.4–0.6 in) in diameter, they are arranged in clusters of 1–5 in leaf axils on peduncles that can reach 5 centimetres (2 in) in length.
Distribution and habitat
Commonly found in the savanna regions of West and East Africa south of the Sahara and north of the equatorial rainforests, ranging from Senegal eastwards to Somalia.
Uses
The species is used as an antidote to poison in different cultures. In Nigeria, the stem bark extracts of the plant is used in ethnomedicine to treat a variety of ailments including depression, epilepsy and psychosis. It is also used to expel parasitic worms from the body.
The public source identifies “Ficus platyphylla” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ficus, platyphylla and species.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15475926. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ficus platyphylla” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.