"The specific epithet – lilliputiana alludes to the small growth habit of the species. All other species in subgenus Urostigma sect. Malvanthera, are erect shrubs or large trees. Stearn (1993) refers to other plant taxa with this epithet as being small enough to inhabit the land of Lilliput in Swift's "Gulliver's Travels". To the Lilliputians, a race of people no taller than six inches (Swift 1726), this fig would have truly been a magnificent banyan. Therefore, I consider F. lilliputiana to be a worthy addition to the flora of Lilliput."

Lilliput's Rock-fig.

Pending. Prostrate to ascending shrub to 45 cm high. See Dixon (2001, 2011), Ficus lilliputiana in FloraNT (accessed 24 January 2022).

Native.

Both forms of Ficus lilliputiana have a limited and sympatric distribution, the species is restricted to the sandstone escarpments of the northeastern Kimberley region of Western Australia and the adjacent Keep River National Park of the Northern Territory.

Lithophyte growing in rock crevices, of older sandstone formations.

W.A. Conservation Code: Priority Four.

N.T. TPWCA: Near Threatened.

Distinct, the smallest taxon in sect. Malvanthera and the only one with prostrate habit.

There are two forms:

Leaves and other parts glabrous ........... f. lilliputiana

Leaves hairy, other parts variously hairy .. ... f. pilosa

Both forms grow together, e.g. in same rock crevice, and in some instances have been collected as one specimen.

Dixon, D.J. (2001). Ficus lilliputiana (Moraceae), a new species from the Kimberley region of Western Australian and the Northern Territory. Nuytsia 13(3): 457–464.

Dixon, D.J. (2003). A taxonomic revision of the Australian Ficus species in the section Malvanthera (Ficus subg. Urostigma: Moraceae). Telopea 10(1): 125–153.

Dixon, D.J. (2011). Moraceae, in Short, P.S. & Cowie, I.D. (eds), Flora of the Darwin Region 1: 1–26. (Northern Territory Herbarium, Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport: Palmerston).

Stearn, W.T. (1993). Botanical Latin. (David & Charles Publishers: Devon).

Swift, J. (1726). Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. (B. Molte: London).

Western Australian Herbarium (1998–). Florabase—the Western Australian Flora. (Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions): https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/ [Accessed 24 January 2022]

Tentative profile, 24 January 2022.