Ficus aurea in interior Central Florida?

[kinzyjr]

What appears to be an adult Ficus aurea in the Crystal Lake area of Lakeland, FL .  The first three are a few quick shots from the cam today, and the last is the May 2022 Google Street View for those that have issues with the links.

Google Maps - May 2022:

 

 

[RedRabbit]

15 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

What appears to be an adult Ficus aurea in the Crystal Lake area of Lakeland, FL .  The first three are a few quick shots from the cam today, and the last is the May 2022 Google Street View for those that have issues with the links.

Google Maps - May 2022:

 

 

Nice find! I’m impressed there really are a lot of examples of them inland. 

[richtrav]

On a side note, has anyone noticed an increase in the number of volunteers of Ficus religiosa in Central Florida?

[kinzyjr]

1 hour ago, richtrav said:

On a side note, has anyone noticed an increase in the number of volunteers of Ficus religiosa in Central Florida?

If the photo below is one, they are practically taking over the Combee Road area:

[Silas_Sancona]

45 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

If the photo below is one, they are practically taking over the Combee Road area:

That looks like  F. elastica..   Leaves of F. religiosa  have a " tail "  https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/127514-Ficus-religiosa

[kinzyjr]

3 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

That looks like  F. elastica..   Leaves of F. religiosa  have a " tail "  https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/127514-Ficus-religiosa

Thank you, that's definitely a unique characteristic.  I'm used to seeing Ficus elastica that look closer to the one below, so I thought the one posted above might be something different.

[Silas_Sancona]

5 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Thank you, that's definitely a unique characteristic.  I'm used to seeing Ficus elastica that look closer to the one below, so I thought the one posted above might be something different.

  Yep, this is your standard form.  The other looks like one of the variegated ones  or maybe a variegated form of  altissima ( similar leaf shape to elastica )..  Don't see those much for sure, though i remember seeing at least a couple specimens growing on both Anna Maria and Siesta Key.

Believe Walt has posted shots of a variegated altissima he's been growing.

[Bill H2DB]

These Ficus Altissima (Variegated )  have been showing up here in the Holly Hill and Daytona Beach area for a few years .

  Back to the original posting subject , there are a few Ficus Aurea hereabouts . Over the years , they have their ups and downs between freezes .

[Tom in Tucson]

On 12/1/2023 at 6:00 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

That looks like  F. elastica..   Leaves of F. religiosa  have a " tail "  https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/127514-Ficus-religiosa

So is the consensus opinion currently in favor of saying it's likely a tree sized Ficus altissima ?

Note that this one in Qatar has a dove perched on the right.

Larger image here: https://www.floraofqatar.com/ficus_altissima.htm

Hi 63°, Lo 37°

Edited December 3, 2023 by Tom in Tucson

[Walt]

I have a Ficus aurea  I bought about 15 years ago at a native plant nursery in Ft. Myers, Florida. However, my tree hasn't grown all that big since then. It's maybe 12 feet high and not very spreading. On the other hand, I have a Ficus altissima 'variegata' that is quite large. I haven't seen a bigger one in my county in all my travels. I think I have about 13-14 species of ficus and none compares in growth speed and size as my altissima. On the other hand, I've made cuttings from my mother tree altissima, and none of the cuttings (many at least 15 years old) have grown with the size and spread as my mother altissima. Go figure.

BTW, I have a progeny from the famous Thomas Edison banyan (Ficus benghalensis) that a friend gave me about three years ago. It was only about 12" high. It hasn't been a super fast grower. Today it stands about 8 feet high overall.