Ficus abutilifolia is native to Guinee, Mali, Cameroun, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria and Sudan to Ethiopia, south to Botswana, KwaZulu-Natal, and South Africa (Transvaal). It is a common shade tree widely grown in Africa and most commonly associated with rocky outcrops and relatively hot and dry conditions. Pollination of flowers within the receptacles is carried out by tiny wasps which enter through the ostiole, a small opening at the tip of the receptacle. The tasty fruits are enjoyed by people, and by a host of birds, fruit bats, monkeys and baboons, bushbuck, bushpig, duiker, klipspringer, nyala and warthog. In Kampala, Rock wild fig can be found within Uganda Golf course club, National housing & medical quarters, Makerere university among other places.

Ficus abutilifolia is a small to medium-sized, deciduous to semi-deciduous tree up to 15 m high, though it seldom exceeds 5 m. The trunk is usually twisted or contorted, the branch-lets stout and glabrous (lacking hairs) and marked with leaf and stipular scars.

BARK: whitish to yellowish white and smooth, powdery or somewhat flaking, and it is this conspicuous bark that is immediately apparent.

LEAVES: broadly ovate and heart-shaped to almost round and are chordate at the base, ranging in size from 75-200 x 65-180 mm. They are glabrous on both surfaces, occasionally with velvety hairs beneath, with 4-9 pairs of secondary veins, entire wavy margins and a petiole up to 120 mm long.

FLOWERS:

FRUIT: Figs, 15-25 mm in diameter, are borne singly or in pairs in the leaf axils on terminal branch-lets, and are smooth to slightly hairy. They may be sessile or on short, stout stalks up to 15 mm long and are green becoming yellow or red when ripe.

Edible uses: fruit can be eaten while raw or dried for later use, leaves when cooked can be eaten as a vegetable. http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php id=Ficus+abutilifolia

Medicine: leaves, milky latex, and the bark. http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php id=Ficus+abutilifolia, http://pza.sanbi.org/ficus-abutilifolia

Can be planted as a bonsai.

Can be planted to provide shade.

An ornamental tree.