Ficus aurea
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Strangler Fig
Moraceae
Plant Specifics
| Form: | Tree | |
| Size: | 40-60 (75) ft tall by 20-60 ft wide | |
| Life Span: | Long-lived perennial | |
| Flower Color: | NA | |
| Fruit Color: | Yellow,red,brown | |
| Phenology: | Evergreen. Blooms and fruits throughout the year but fruits most abundant in spring. | |
| Noted for: | Interesting bark, Showy fruits, Interesting foliage |
Landscaping
| Recommended Uses: | This is a large tree best used in settings where its form can be appreciated. It is both a specimen tree and and shade tree. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Considerations: | In some settings, the tree begins as an epiphyte and sends roots down to the ground wrapping around the host. This is interesting in natural settings but may not be interesting in a formal setting. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Propagation: | Seed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Availability: | Native nurseries | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Light: | Part Shade, Shade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moisture Tolerance: |
always floodedextremely dry |
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| (Usually moist, occasional inundation ----- to ----- Not wet but not extremely dry) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moisture Tolerance: | Usually moist, occasional inundation ----- to ----- Not wet but not extremely dry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salt Water Flooding Tolerance: | Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salt Spray/ Salty Soil Tolerance: | Some tolerance to salty wind but not direct salt spray. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Soil or other substrate: | Organic material (muck), Lime rock, Sand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Soil pH: | Neutral to alkaline | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ecology
| Wildlife: |
Birds and small mammals consume fruit and often deposit seeds high in the canopy. | |
| Insects: | Larval host for ruddy daggerwing (Marpesia petreus) and Antillean daggerwing (Marpesia eleuchea) butterflies. It is pollinated by a host-specific wasp (Pegascapus jimenezi) inside the fig. | |
| Native Habitats: | Moist-wet sites to dry sites and on shallow soils over limestone. Tropical hammocks, swamps. May be epiphytic or have aerial roots that may wrap around the trunks of other trees and eventually form secondary trunks. |
Distribution and Planting Zones
Natural Range in Florida
USDA Zones
Suitable to grow in:
10A 10B 11 9B
USDA zones are based on minimum winter temperatures