Ficus aurea
Photo by Shirley Denton. Photograph belongs to the photographer who allows use for FNPS purposes only. Please contact the photographer for all other uses.
Natural Range in Florida
USDA Zones
Suitable to grow in:
10A 10B 11 9B
2002-2022, Copyright Florida Native Plant Society
Strangler Fig
Moraceae
Plant Specifics
| Size: | 40-60 (75) ft tall by 20-60 ft wide | |
| Life Span: | Long-lived perennial | |
| Fruit Color: | Yellow,red,brown | |
| Phenology: | Evergreen. Blooms and fruits throughout the year but fruits most abundant in spring. | |
| 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. |
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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Light: | Part Shade, Shade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moisture Tolerance: |
always floodedextremely 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 Tolerance: | Some tolerance to salty wind but not direct salt spray. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Soil/Substrate: | Organic material (muck), Lime rock, Sand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wildlife
Birds and small mammals consume fruit and often deposit seeds high in the canopy.
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.