A fig tree with rough, sandpaper-textured leaves traditionally used for scouring and polishing.
The forest sandpaper fig (Ficus exasperata, family Moraceae) is a deciduous tree usually up to 21 metres tall, occasionally 30 metres, with a slightly crooked trunk up to 50 cm across that may be fluted or buttressed. It often begins life as an epiphyte on another tree; its aerial roots reach the ground, thicken and gradually encircle and smother the host, until the host dies and the fig stands alone. It is very widely used in traditional medicine in Africa, commonly gathered from the wild and sold in local markets. Its rough leaves are used as sandpaper, the plant repels insects, its wood is used, and it is planted for shade in plantations and along avenues. The leaf is sometimes said to poison goats and sheep, yet it is often fed to ruminants, especially in Ghana. The stem bark and leaf are ingredients of arrow poisons.
It grows from Senegal to Djibouti and Yemen and south to Angola, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, in the drier parts of evergreen forest, at forest edges, in secondary growth and along rivers, often as a strangler and sometimes surviving on cleared land. Male and female flowers are borne on separate trees, so both are needed for fruit, and like all figs it is pollinated by its own species of fig wasp. The tree can be coppiced and is raised from seed or cuttings.
Source: Useful Tropical Plants database (Fern, K.).
Leaves, bark, and roots are used across West Africa for hypertension, difficult childbirth, rheumatism, cough, ulcers, and wounds; the abrasive leaves are also used to scarify skin before applying medicine.
The fruit is edible and is chewed to relieve indigestion.
A forest and farmland tree; the dried leaves are used as sandpaper for woodworking and to scour cooking utensils.