{{Short description|Species of fig}} {{Speciesbox |image = Mulemba.jpg |genus = Ficus |species = thonningii |authority = Blume |synonyms = ''Ficus burkei''<br /> ''Ficus microcarpa'' <small>Vahl. (''non'' Wagner: preoccupied{{Verify source|date = November 2007}})</small><br /> ''Ficus petersii'' }}
'''''Ficus thonningii''''' is a species of ''Ficus''. It is native to Africa. It is commonly known as '''Mũgumo''' to the Agikuyu or the Strangler Fig in common English.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://apps.worldagroforestry.org/usefultrees/pdflib/Ficus_thonningii_KEN.pdf |format=PDF|title=Ficus thonningii (F. dekdekana) |website=Apps.worldagroforestry.org|access-date=2022-08-10}}</ref> Recent phylogenetic analysis suggests it may be a species complex.
The species has diverse economic and environmental uses across many farming and pastoral communities in Africa.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1 = Balehegn|first1 = Mulubrhan|last2 = Eik|first2 = Lars O.|last3 = Tesfay|first3 = Yayneshet|date = 2015-07-03|title = Silvopastoral system based on Ficus thonningii: an adaptation to climate change in northern Ethiopia|journal = African Journal of Range & Forage Science|volume = 32|issue = 3|pages = 183–191|doi = 10.2989/10220119.2014.942368|s2cid = 85290828|issn = 1022-0119}}</ref> In some dryland areas in Africa for example, it is a very good source of dry season livestock fodder, because it produces highly nutritious foliage<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Balehegn|first1=Mulubrhan|last2=Eik|first2=Lars Olav|last3=Tesfay|first3=Yayneshet|date=2014-04-09|title=Replacing commercial concentrate by Ficus thonningii improved productivity of goats in Ethiopia|journal=Tropical Animal Health and Production|language=en|volume=46|issue=5|pages=889–894|doi=10.1007/s11250-014-0582-9|pmid=24715205|s2cid=14401979|issn=0049-4747}}</ref> in large amounts<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Balehegn|first1=Mulubrhan|last2=Eniang|first2=E. A.|last3=Hassen|first3=Abubeker|date=2012-04-01|title=Estimation of browse biomass of Ficus thonningii, an indigenous multipurpose fodder tree in northern Ethiopia|journal=African Journal of Range & Forage Science|volume=29|issue=1|pages=25–30|doi=10.2989/10220119.2012.687071|s2cid=84686088|issn=1022-0119}}</ref> all year round. Parts of the plant edible for livestock include, leaves, twigs and barks, and their nutritional value varies with season.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd27/12/bale27233.htm|title=Effect of maturity on chemical composition of edible parts of Ficus thonningii Blume (Moraceae): an indigenous multipurpose fodder tree in Ethiopia|website=Lrrd.org|access-date=2016-06-04}}</ref>
==Religious significance== ''Ficus thonningii'' is widely regarded as a holy tree among the Agikuyu and Mount Kenyan tribes. When praying for rain, an elder performs a sacrifice to Ngai (God) by fanning the smoke of a roasted, fattened lamb up the tree, inviting Ngai (God) to descend from above the clouds for the feast.<ref name="nyt1">{{cite news |last1=Dahir |first1=Abdi Latif |title=In Kenya, a Cherished Fig Tree Gets a Reprieve |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/world/africa/kenya-fig-tree-nairobi-expressway.html |access-date=30 December 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=11 November 2020}}</ref>
''Ficus thonningii'' is often confused with its cousin ''Ficus natalensis'', which tends to have leaves that are wider above the middle tapering to the bottom. ''Ficus natalensis'' is mainly found in Western Kenya and the coast as opposed to ''Ficus thonningii'', which is common in the Mount Kenya region.
So revered is the Mũgumo tree in the Mount Kenya region that, in 2020, the President of Kenya issued a decree protecting a ''Ficus thonningii'' from being uprooted during the construction of the Nairobi Expressway.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/thenairobian/features/2001413984/the-rise-of-mugumo-tree-kenyas-giant-fig-tree-gets-new-lease-of-life/|title=The Rise of Mugumo Tree: Kenya's Giant Fig Tree Get's New Lease of Life|website=The Standard}}</ref> The particular tree was nicknamed the Waiyaki Way fig tree.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category-inline|Ficus thonningii}} {{WestAfricanPlants|Ficus thonningii}} *[https://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=FITH2 USDA PLANTS database profile]. *[http://www.figweb.org/Ficus/Subgenus_Urostigma/Section_Galoglychia/Subsection_Chlamydodorae/Ficus_thonningii.htm?symbol=FITH2 Figweb ''Ficus thonningii'']
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3644520}}
thonningii Category:Trees of Angola Category:Trees of Kenya Category:Trees in religion