Calling some smartypants arborist....

OutofMytree

Who knows more about ficii than I do. I need a quick id please so I can finish this site report. The largest of these ficii is 10 meters high and has a trunk diameter of roughly 500mm. It is less than 20 years old according to the building owners. The roots are out of the ground as much as 10 meters from the trunk and it really looks like a minature Moreton Bay Fig. But I am just not sure. Some help please!

Oh and the fruit is smaller than a grape,is soft to the touch and seems quite ripe. The 2 loose fruit you see are typical of the size remaining on the tree.

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Sean Freeman

Ficus exotica would be my guess

OutofMytree

Ficus exotica seems to have lots of variants... any other ideas folks??

TreeDimensional

Put (spp) behind it! IMO

Garry Brockley

ok i thought it was a ficus benjamina because of the smoother leaves but i bow down to sean and treedimensionals local knowledge

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TreeDimensional

Oh, I am NO expert on Ficus. The reason I wrote what I did was that when NO specific species can be determined (ie. hybridized plants or trees) spp is commonly used at the end.

If you need a more definitive ID, I am sure Sean will be along shortly to clear the air! The closest thing to a Ficus in our part of the world, are potted ones. I am looking at my wifes potted one right now and I couldn`t tell you what specific epithet it is either.

I guess I should of stayed out of this thread, BUT hey, I am willing to learn too!

newguy18

whats a ficus,lol.

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old schooler

TreeDimensional

How about Ficus benjamina exotica. I googled and found that a LOT of suppliers are NOT using correct nomenclature. I hope this helps, if NOT say, "SEAN, WHERE ARE YOU".

BTW newguy18 IS NOT helping matters!

newguy18

i have to agree with Galbee,ficus benjamina,

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old schooler

Sean Freeman

To even get close at being definative we would need a pic like Bill grabbed of the F. benjamina.

Moraceae Ficus.... is an absolutely massive and varied genus, trust me when I say that it far far harder to be absolutely certain from the pics we have than it might seem.

Our region indo-australasia has 511 species, and that is the naturally occuring ones not the cultivars!

So why do I not think its not simply Benjamina? The leaf shape does not have the "drip tip" the leaf apex typical of Benjamina, the fruit looks too big (but I have no accurate scale to truely judge that), the general appearance does not seem to fit what i would expect to see in F. benjamina...though since the texts I would normally use to confirm this are down south and I won't be back down there till probably next month, I can only go on gut feeling sorry...Also as I originally said this is a guess!

Ficus are quite variable according to the conditions under which they have developed, it could be F. benjamina just i think its more likely to be a variant or sub species.....sorry I can't be more definative, just be thankful its not F. obliqua !!!!!

newguy18

this?

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old schooler

Eric Frei

Bill, no distinct drip tip on those.

Lots of ficus around these parts.

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OutofMytree

The bricks are standard pavers mate thats why I take photos on em. That and they contrast green leaves really well. Plus also as well too I said smaller than a grape! If you prefer, the size of a Maltezer.

macrocarpa

Gentlemen...xxxxxxxxxxx.......the fig is Ficus microcarpa of which there are 2 forms F.microcarpa var. microcarpa and F. microcarpa var. 'Hillii', sometimes known as F. hillii (an incorrect nomenclature) or commonly as Hill's weeping fig. Very difficult to differentiate between var. micro and var. Hillii; microcarpa sometimes has slightly larger leaves... main difference is, I believe floral, and would require a good dissection 'scope. F. microcarpa is a massive tree when left to its own devices and loves nothing more than leaky sewer or a building footing to play with.

F. "Exotica" is a nursery hybrid of F. benjamina and as such is not a true species. It is characterised by a wavy leaf edge and a strongly acuminate (drip) leaf tip. Initially used as a interior/ hire plant but when planted outside "Exotica"will grow to equally impressive proportions as F. benjamina.

Hope this is of assistance

Macro

Sean Freeman

Yes quite right macrocarpa my guess was incorrect, have attached pic of F benjamina exotica for those interested...please forgive the misdirection, I'm hopeless without my books.

F benjamina exotica

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Sean Freeman

Sincere apologies to all....I work with F microcarpa almost every week....

newguy18

we all goof up Sean.

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old schooler

Bernard Keays

I would go with Ficus microcarpa var hillii as well. Ficus microcarpa 'hillii' tends to have a more upright branch structure where Ficus benjamina tends to weep. Leaves of 'hillii' are usually dark green in colour and flat where 'benjamina' tends to be more yellow/green, wavy or slightly cupped with an elongated drip tip. The fruit of ‘hillii’ tends to be red to purple in colour where ‘benjamina’ tends to range in colour from red, orange to yellow in colour when ripe. Is the trunk off white, grey in colour?

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