Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Ficus macrophylla f. macrophylla
Common name
Moreton Bay fig
Family
Moraceae
Where found
Forest and near streams. Occurs naturally north of Nowra. Widely cultivated. Possibly naturalised where birds, possums and fruit-bats may have distributed seed, resulting in small plants becoming established as epiphytes on trees.
Notes
Tree to 55 m high, with large buttresses. A strangler, first an epiphyte on the host tree, and then forming a massive trunk of joined roots arond the host tree. Bark dark greyish brown. Young stems hairy, soon becoming hairless. Leaves alternating up the stems, 7–30 cm long, 40–125 mm wide, upper surface green and hairless, lower surface rusty-coloured due to a covering of minute scales or hairs, often becoming hairless with age, tips pointed; margins entire. Male and female flowers on the same plant. Individual flowers very small, inside the figs. Figs paired or single, orange turning purple when ripe, spotted, round to oblong, 15–25 mm in diameter, stalks 10–28 mm long. Figs ripen throughout the year.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Ficus~macrophylla (accessed 22 January, 2021)
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