Tagged With: Ficus

Fig Leaves

Photograph taken on Tuesday, July 10, 2018 by Henry
Ficus carica

Ficus carica

I was down at my mom’s after work and looked around for something to photograph. There isn’t really anything in bloom in her yard right now, but the leaves on the fig tree that dad planted caught my eye. The common fig, Ficus carica, is not completely hardy in our area but planted in a protected spot and given some winter protection, it can be successfully grown. My grandparents, in southern North Carolina, got a lot more figs off their much larger tree. This tree never produced enough figs on its own to make any significant quantity of preserves so mom had to supplement it with figs bought at the market.

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Ficus lyrata Leaf

Photograph taken on Wednesday, November 20, 2019 by Henry
Ficus lyrata Leaf

Ficus lyrata Leaf

Dorothy rooted a leaf from a fiddle-leaf fig (Ficus lyrata) a while back and it’s done pretty well. We had it in the kitchen for a while and it got strong enough to stand without support, which is nice. We have since moved it to the dining room, where it’s a little less in the way, but the lower leaves don’t get any sun and they recently dried up and fell off. I really love the texture of the leaves as well as the patterns of their veins. After taking this photo (and some others) I happened to leave them on the sideboard. Cathy wondered where in the world these huge leaves had come from and what they were doing there. They’ve been thrown away now.

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Ficus microcarpa Bonsai

Photograph taken on Thursday, January 02, 2020 by Henry
<em>Ficus microcarpa</em> Bonsai

Ficus microcarpa Bonsai

In the wild, this species of fig is a tree growing to over 100 feet in height and with a spread of 200 feet. This specimen is, obviously, a little smaller. The tree, variously known as the Chinese or Malayan banyan or the curtain fig, is native from China through tropical Asia and the Caroline Islands to Australia. As a houseplant it is a good choice for bonsai, taking training quite well. In the case of this plant, it is what is known in the trade as a ginseng ficus. The “stems” are actually roots. The plant is allowed to grow with these fleshy roots underground and then the plant it re-potted so that they are above ground, giving the appearance of ginseng roots. This was a gift to Dorothy from her friends, Rachel and Andrew.

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