Our Favorite Ficus for Your Home
By Tyson Curtis
Ficus altissima ‘Yellow Gem’
At Flora Grubb Gardens nursery in San Francisco, we almost always have several varieties of Ficus in stock and ready to send home to your indoor garden. These plants each have their own special characteristics and care needs. Here are some fun facts and helpful info about a few of our favorites, along with some fascinating botanical history. Read on!
Ficus lyrata, the “Fiddleleaf Fig”
F. lyrata (above and below) is also a banyan fig, and mature houseplants have aerial roots along the trunks, adding interest. They are prized for their large fiddle-shaped leaves, which can be over two feet long on mature trees. This ficus comes from West Africa, where it enjoys a tropical climate and can thus only live outdoors in the most mild areas of Southern California. It also doesn’t appreciate watering with cold water or moving around much and is prone to dropping leaves in each case. For more tips read our article on Care for Ficus Lyrata.
Close-up of the beautiful detail on the underside of Ficus lyrata leaves
Ficus altissima ‘Yellow Gem’
Ficus altissima selection ‘Yellow Gem’ (above)
F. altissima hails from Southeast Asia through the Pacific Islands and is most commonly called the council tree. This tree is a strangler fig, usually starting as an epiphyte seeding high up in another tree that it overwhelms and replaces over many years. It has the characteristic aerial roots and pillars of a strangler, though less so than other banyans. The trunk is light in color and with time it becomes adorned with a mosaic of grey patterns. ‘Yellow Gem’ has stunning lemon-lime leaves that are more dramatic with direct sun; when light hits them, the leaves illuminate the room with a vibrant green aura. In the Bay Area this tree may possibly grow outdoors, but only if it is in a very protected microclimate, preferably potted and in a sheltered spot.
Ficus beghalensis ‘Audrey’
Ficus benghalensis selection ‘Audrey’ (pictured above)
F. benghalensis is the national tree of India. These are the prototypical banyan trees. In fact one F. benghalensis holds the record for the world's widest tree. It grows in Howrah, India, and covers over 150,000 square feet! This tree has over 2,500 rooted pillars holding it up! Don’t fear, though—as with all ficus, F. benghalensis responds quite well to pruning and can be kept tidy at just about any size. F. benghalensis makes a great houseplant, liking a bit of direct sun or bright indirect light, and can also be grown outdoors in the Bay Area.
Ficus ‘Audrey’ on the left and Ficus altissima ‘Yellow Gem’ on the right
Ficus umbellata (pictured above) is our new obsession. These plants are also from West Africa, where native people use them to treat cancer. With its paper-thin, large heart-shaped leaves, it competes with F. lyrata for majesty. However, F. umbellata seems more tolerant of errors, with the leaves drooping when underwatered, rather than falling off. They also tolerate rotating better than F. lyrata, but leaves are known to fall off if they are moved from place to place. These cannot live outdoors in the Bay Area.
Ficus elastica ‘Decora’ for sale at Flora Grubb Gardens nursery in San Francisco
Ficus elastica
F. elastica comes in many varieties, from the green species and the dark and moody ‘Decora’ (above left and below right) to ‘Variegata,’ with its clean white variegation, and the glowing pink ‘Ruby.’ This banyan grows from South China into Southeast Asia and has been intertwined with human civilization for thousands of years. The name elastica refers to the toxic latex sap, which all ficus contain. However, the latex in this species was once used commercially to create rubber. Later on rubber production was replaced by another tree (Hevea brasiliensis) which is more productive, and then more recently by synthetic rubber derived from petroleum. And still the common name “Rubber Tree” persists today.
Ficus elastica ‘Decora’ (foreground left)
Ficus elastica ‘Decora’ (right)
And a few more (not pictured here)…
Ficus petiolaris grows in Mexico from Baja to Oaxaca. Petiolaris has exceptionally beautiful heart-shaped leaves with reddish-pink veins and lightly peeling bark. Since this ficus is deciduous in nature it will tolerate going dryer than other figs, but also will defoliate quickly if under-watered during its summer growing season. These figs are prized by collectors for their shape as living sculptures. They can be grown in a sunny window or outdoors in the Bay Area.
Ficus palmeri grows alongside F. petiolaris in Mexico, and is also a rock fig with similar care. The leaves are also heart-shaped, but green-veined. Palmeri has an exceptionally beautiful peeling tan bark and a trunk that thickens even more than F. petiolaris. Both F. petiolaris and F. palmeri look best when pruned back hard each year in spring to develop a thick basal caudex. Be sure to give them a sunny spot and even water during the summer to avoid leaf drop.
Ficus pumila’s superpower is its versatility. It can become a massive plant that covers a warehouse or it can be kept in a hanging basket. It grows in shade, but also tolerates sun (though the leaves will yellow if grown in hot sun). Pumila does well indoors and out. It appreciates water, but tolerates drought (especially in the ground once established).
This ficus tends to present as a slow-moving vine, attaching to just about any support and slowly engulfing it, but never truly becoming a tree (as other strangler figs do). It can be sculpted into a hedge or topiary, a green wall, or opened up to see the trunk and branches giving it more treelike form. Pumila is also hardy, tolerating temperatures down to 23F easily and even lower if grown on a heat retaining wall.
F. pumila originated in East Asia, but is now present on many continents because its so durable and adaptable. You’ve probably seen it growing alongside Bay Area freeways, where it makes an easygoing green covering on speedblock walls.Beyond the beauty it adds, all those leaves help absorb freeway noise. Pumila starts out slow-growing, with thumbnail-sized leaves that lie flat on surfaces like shingles. As it matures, growth speeds up, a trunk develops (usually hidden by leaves) and juvenile leaves give way to larger mature leaves that grow out on short stems, away from the structure. Pruning will keep the leaves smaller, and if a living wall or hedge is desired, you can use hedge pruners to accomplish this look.
(This ficus also comes in a variegated form, with clean white leaf margins, and another form with oak-like leaves called Ficus pumila ‘Quercifolia.’)
WHY WE REVERE THEM: FICUS HISTORY AND FASCINATING FACTS
Humans have been fascinated with figs for thousands of years. It’s hard to know if we were originally drawn to them for their natural aesthetic beauty or for their usefulness. If you’re like me, your first encounter with figs was likely at a farmers’ market, where they are sold today as they were in Roman antiquity.
The edible fig plant, Ficus carica (above), is depicted in Roman sculpture and mentioned throughout religious texts, including a starring role in the Old Testament as Adam and Eve’s first clothing. Ficus are considered sacred in Hinduism, and the fruit is praised in the Quran.
Buddhists revere ficus deeply, as Gautama Siddhartha achieved enlightenment under a type of ficus called a Bodhi tree, in Bodh Gaya, India. The Bodhi was later given the scientific name Ficus religiosa, due to its religious significance. A cutting from the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya was planted in Sri Lanka and is now the oldest cultivated plant on earth. Written records of this tree’s care date back over two thousand years! When an Indian emperor became enamored with Buddhism, the jealous queen poisoned the original Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya. Fortunately the Sri Lankan tree was still standing. A new cutting was taken and replanted in Bodh Gaya to replace the original tree that Buddha sat beneath; this tree itself is now hundreds of years old. I was fortunate enough to visit both inspiring trees, even collecting seeds that have grown into my own Bodhis. The vast temple complexes built around each tree are a testament to how deeply they are revered.
And yet this is all relatively recent history compared to evidence showing that Ficus carica may be the first cultivated plant. Archaeological evidence shows its propagation almost ten thousand years ago! This precedes other cultivated crops such as wheat and rye by a thousand years. Since it’s relatively easy to take cuttings of figs simply by placing a pruned branch in water until it roots, they made the perfect candidate for the invention of agriculture. With this in mind, take a moment to consider the gravity of the human relationship with the fig.
Because figs take well to pruning and pot culture, they can be kept just about any size, even though many get quite large in their natural habitat. As a happy byproduct, when the plant is kept in a pot and pruned, the leaves stay proportionally smaller. I have had a Ficus elastica in the same tiny pot for 25 years. In nature this ficus grows into a 100-by-100-foot tree, and yet mine is perfectly happy at 10 inches tall. I give it a good pruning and repotting every five years or so, and the leaves are miniature compared to larger counterparts. (Do take care when pruning them, as their sap is mildly toxic.)
Ficus elastica ‘Ruby’
Ficus are often differentiated by their growth characteristics. Some, like Ficus carica, are typical trees, but others have unusual growth habits. One common type are banyan figs, also called strangler figs. These figs usually germinate high up in another tree, growing as an epiphyte, sending down aerial roots over the host tree and eventually strangling and replacing it. These aerial roots also serve to anchor the tree in strong winds, as they grow down from the branches until they reach the ground and create supporting pillars. Another form of fig is the rock fig. Rock figs are lithophytic, germinating in the cracks of boulders and sending their roots over the rocks to exploit even the smallest crevices. These figs are prized as bonsai specimens because their trunks swell to store water and their elevated roots add sculptural interest. You can exaggerate this effect by lifting the root ball with each replanting. They are also excellent for root-over-rock bonsai. Since they grow in cracks, rock figs thrive in even very small pots.
Even more fascinating is the training of F. elastica into living bridges. It’s unknown how long people have cultivated living bridges in South Asia; the earliest written record of them is from the 1840s, but the practice is thought to have been passed down through many generations. The aerial roots are trained through the hollow trunks of Areca palms propped over unsurpassable rivers. Once the roots complete their journey to the far side, they grow into the ground making living cables. Over time more roots are piled on and fashioned into a living bridge able to support fifty people! These bridges last as long as the trees live, hundreds of years, and get stronger with time, unlike wooden or metal bridges which degrade quickly in the tropical climate. Since the range of F. elastica pushes into cool mountain areas of the Himalayas, they can be grown outdoors in the Bay Area, but if they are planted in the ground remember they can get exceptionally large. They also make a durable houseplant that likes direct sun or a bright spot. They are probably the easiest ficus to grow indoors.
Come see us soon at Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco and choose your own favorite ficus to bring home to your indoor garden!
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