FNPS Plant Database

Ficus aurea

strangler fig

PHOTOS COMING SOON!

Nomenclature

Common Name:

strangler fig

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Ficus aurea

Family:

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:

Showy Fruits, Interesting Foliage, Interesting Bark

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.

Availability:

Native Nurseries

Propagation:

Seed.

Light:

Full Sun, Part Sun, Shade

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded------------------------------------------------Extremely Dry

Coming Soon!

Usually moist, occasional inundation ---to--- Not wet but not extremely dry

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Some tolerance to salty wind but not direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand, Loam, Lime Rock, Organic

Soil pH:

neutral to alkaline

Suitable to Grow In:

10A,10B,11

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.



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Ecology

Wildlife:

Caterpillars, Birds, Mammals

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.

Birds and small mammals consume fruit and often deposit seeds high in the canopy. 

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.

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

General Comments:

Citations:

Huegel, Craig, N.  2010.  Native plant landscaping for Florida wildlife.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL. (wildlife uses).



Institute for Regional Conservation.  Accessed 2021.  Natives for Your Neighborhood.  https://www.regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/plantdetail.asp?tx=Ficuaure.  (salt tolerance, soil).



Osorio, Rufino. 2001. A gardener's guide to Florida's native plants.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL.



Watkins, John and Thomas Sheehan.  1975.  Florida Landscapt Plants, Native and Exotic. University Presses of Florida, Gainesville. (light, soil, salt)



Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2021. Atlas of Florida Plants ( https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ).  Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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