Ficus palmata, commonly known as Punjab fig or "Bedu", is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae. It is a shrub or tree native to southern Egypt to north-eastern tropical Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and southeastern Iran to Afghanistan, Pakistan, northern India, and Nepal. It has edible fruit.
Description Ficus palmata grows as a shrub or tree, growing up to tall. The fruits, which turn purplish on maturing, measure up to long. The flowers are greenish white.
Taxonomy It was first published by Peter Forsskål in Fl. Aegypt.-Arab. on page 179 in 1775.
It is also known as the Wild Himalayan fig.
Subspecies There are 2 known subspecies: Ficus palmata subsp. palmata – southeastern Egypt to northeastern tropical Africa and the Arabian Peninsula Ficus palmata subsp. virgata – Sinai to northwestern Saudi Arabia, and southeastern Iran to Nepal
Distribution and habitat Ficus palmata is native to north-eastern Africa from southeastern Egypt south to Somalia, to the Sinai, southern Levant, and Arabian Peninsula, and from southeastern Iran to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India to Nepal.
It grows in tropical and subtropical desert and dry shrubland from elevation, including near villages in the Himalayas.
Uses In the Himalayan region, its fruit is widely sold and consumed. The whole fruit, including the seeds are edible. The fruits are used in folk medicine to treat inflammation, pathogenic bacterial ailments and be used as an analgesic (Shi et al. 2014).
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