The Coussapoa dealbata of Seville is a fig from Australia


So there I was, fresh from an off-the-cuff spiel to my Australians Studying Abroad (ASA) Cultural Tours group about the whys and wherefores of the Moreton Bay Fig. It was a few hours earlier, in a park adjacent to this beautiful garden in the Alcázar of Seville, Spain.

Our local tour guide had said some people said the large tree in front of us came from South America but she had heard it might be from Australia. I said, yes, it was native to Australia but widely grown in places such as as Argentina so perhaps it had been sourced from there, rather than Moreton Bay or other places in coastal northern Australia.

I mentioned the two forms of Ficus macrophylla, one on the mainland and nearby islands, with a single (thick) trunk. The other, from Lord Howe Island, covering up to an acre with aerial roots dropping down through the jungle and forming new upright supports.

The specimen in front of us I said was slightly odd having one or two almost aerial root growths but much more in tune with the mainland form.

Then it happened, later in day, the thing you dread most as a botanical know-it-all. In the Parque Maria Luisa I saw a sign on yet another gigantic 'Moreton Bay Fig' saying Coussapoa dealbata, from tropical South America. The sign said Moraceae, the fig family, so it was at least in the right neck of the evolutionary woods.


When I looked it up online, I saw the genus Coussapoa was in facxt classified in the family Urticaceae, along with stinging nettles. To be fair, the family also includes the rather large Stinging Tree of Queensland and elsewhere (Dendrocnide), but the tree in front of me looked pretty much like a fig tree. And pretty much like the Moreton Bay Fig.

In Kew's Plant List, a collection of currently accepted plant names, Coussapoa dealbata is listed as 'unresolved', with a synonym (alternative name) of Ficus dealbata. There are 48 accepted names in the genus Coussapoa and they are all included in the family Urticaceae. So what is going on?


Searching further the truth, I think, came out. I found a paper with the following entry in a list of species from Parque Maria Luisa: "Lord Howe Island form of Moreton Bay fig, Ficus macrophylla var. columnaris, from Australia, incorrectly labelled as Coussapoa dealbata."

And then elsewhere (and this is a very rough Google translation): "In another sense, the Australian fig tree is mistakenly identified as a liana tree (Coussapoa dealbata) in various documentary sources relating to Seville trees. In this case it is an error of identification, not of naming. Possibly the resemblance of the liana tree to a subspecies of Australian fig tree, the subspecies columnaris, native to Lord Howe Island, which is characterized by the emission of numerous aerial roots and which is sometimes grown in gardens has led to the mistake."

So this label in Parque Maria Luisa seems to the source, or at least one of the sources, of the geographical confusion. The incorrectly named specimen in Parque Maria Luisa has in turn informed tourists or tour guides.


Interestingly I can't find any record or image of what Coussapoa dealbata really looks like, and whether there is likely to be any confusion between the two species. It seems unlikely given their quite different families - the stinging nettle clan do not produce 'figs' for a start. And most images of this taxon posted on-line seem to be Moreton Bay Fig.

While I can relax a little about my identification, skills I remain uneasy about the mysterious Coussapoa dealbata. So much for the relaxing walk through Parque Maria Luis in mid-May.



Comments

Lauren Fraser said…
Very interesting! I'm going to be in Seville later this year, I might go visit the fig and let it know that I know its true identity.
Talking Plants said…
Please do! I'm sure it will appreciate the thought... Have a great trip. Tim
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Anton said…
Now you know Tim how it feels. This is a mere confusion, rather typical in Southern Europe for some reason. I expect it's because they're a tad slow in keeping up with nomenclature. For me this is just fine, it's like taking a walk in the past. The history of classification of any given species, we could even say an important preservation of the history of botanical classification of a species.
However Tim when an entire genus is perverted and for no good reason then the little hairs start standing up on the bak of my neck.
Take a walk through any botanical jardin down-under and you will indeed think the world had turned upside down, every second tree is now an Acacia where there weren't any before. Can you imagine how peaceful your bot gardens are for the Botanicaly minded!!!? Acacias are an African genus after all and have been since Linnaeus set out the principles of classification. Quite rightly in Africa we ignore this botanical vandalism and maintain Acacia in it proper place. We refer to yourse as weeds and invaders other wise known as Wattles.
What's a mere fig tree, the Australian figs should all be called Coussapoa, that will teach you, our megafuna are not suddenly all marsupials either? Are they?!
Talking Plants said…
Thanks Anton. I like your positive approach to nomenclature of this fig, and agree that this opened up a whole new story about the plant - which is always a good thing! In regard to the Acacia yes that decision had BIG impacts outside Australia. Sometimes nomenclature can be perverse, even when we follow the rules strictly, raising old names (effectively from the dead) to replace well loved epithets. In the case of wattles and conservation of the name Acacia, the arguments for and against that are well documented. For me I try to learn the new name and then hope upcoming generations will not find the names odd, no matter whether we agree with the decisions or not. In the end we always have the (beautiful) plants themselves... Thanks for the feedback Anton.
Yup. As of today (August 5, 2021), that sign is still there in Maria Luisa Park in Seville. Glad to have found your website—thanks for clearing up the confusion.
Talking Plants said…
Glad to be of assistance! :)
Anonymous said…
I found this page yesterday while trying to confirm that the figs in the park adjacent to the Alcazar were M.B. Figs. I was curious enough to go to Maria Luisa Park today to see if the sign was still there. I couldn’t find a MBF with a sign identifying it either way so I think the sign has probably been removed.

I did find a sign that claimed I was standing in front of tree ferns that had been a gift from Australia on the occasion of an expo in 1992 but there was not a tree fern to be seen. Long ago perished I guess.
Talking Plants said…
That's interesting and glad you tracked down my post. Sad about the tree fern!
Anonymous said…
Whoops. Found the fig with the Coussapoa dealbata sign. So it is still there. Please disregard my previous comment. (I hate posting misinformation).