Ficus maclellandii variants...

[Kostas]

Hello!

I am trying to decide which tropical tree to put in my Pyrgos garden as my main shade tree and,wanting a tall and spreading species,and of course,loving Ficus with their huge sizes and aerial roots,i decided to grow a Ficus maclellandii as i have been unable to sourse seeds of my first choise,Dipterocarpus species and need a big tree soon for this area so tracking Dipterocarpus and growing it from seed would set me back a year or two And it wouldnt have aerial roots...Of course if you know where i could buy a Dipterocarpus species,i am still interested as its my first choice!

Anyway,the biggest drawback i find in Ficus maclellandii is that i have only been able to find named variants of it and not the true species and as you may know,i hate named variants in that they generally are artificially produced through selective reproduction of different natural variants.But,others like for example Magnolia grandiflora var. ''Galissoniensis'' are natural variants that just have been named and are asexually reproduced most of the times to keep with the original variant.This latter case is ok with me.So,does anyone know if its the same case with Ficus maclellandii 'Alii' or 'Amstel'' or any other variants this species has? Does anyone have or know where i could buy seeds or young seedlings/cutting of the true species?

Thank you very much in advance!

[fastfeat]

I believe that the species has broader foliage than 'Alii' but not as broad as 'Amstel King'.

I had an old tree (before the cultivars became popular), sold to me as F. "longifolia".

Not sure where to obtain seeds or cuttings though, sorry.

[Eric in Orlando]

The only ones I have seen in the trade here are the 2 cultivars you mentioned. I have never seen a "wild" species form of it.

[Really full garden]

Kostas, about 12 years ago I brought a cutting of Alii to Guatemala and grew it as a house plant.I then took cuttings from that tree and now have medium sized trees growing in both my inland and seaside gardens.They do well and survive our severe dry season with some watering and do not grow so out of control as do the other common forms of ficus.It has a nice rounded form and most people here think it is some sort of mango tree because of the long narrow leaves.The best thing about it is the constant shade that it provides and really limited leaf drop.

[Kostas]

Thank you very much all of you for your replys!

Thank you for this info fastfeat! I like the 'Amstel King' better than Alii so i am sure i would love the type species

If only you still had that tree...it would make a great parent plant!

Thank you very much Eric!

Do you maybe know or could check somewhere if the 'Amstel King' variant is just a named natural variant of this species or if it was ''made'' through selective propagation?

Thank you for the story Scott!

Thats exactly the reason i like this species so much,because it looks so much like a mango tree and still has the aerial roots and does not produce big fruits to make a mess as the other members of my family would say...(personally i have no problem with fallen,rotting fruit,jungle look is what i want anyway! But aerial roots help more than rotting fruit )

[JasonD]

Does anyone have experience growing Ficus ali'i/maclellandii/binnendijkii outdoors in a mild, cool Mediterranean climate? I'm thinking of Palm-Talkers from Tasmania, Melbourne, New Zealand/Aotearoa, Portugal, Central/Northern California coast, maybe Capetown, and Albany Western Australia. I've seen a few waifs from the indoor trade surviving neglected on the street in a can or growing in a protected dooryard, but I'm curious about actually ground-planting as a real tree.

Athens, alas, is not a comparable case as summers are much hotter than mine.

[fastfeat]

  On 10/31/2011 at 7:47 PM, JasonD said:

Does anyone have experience growing Ficus ali'i/maclellandii/binnendijkii outdoors in a mild, cool Mediterranean climate? I'm thinking of Palm-Talkers from Tasmania, Melbourne, New Zealand/Aotearoa, Portugal, Central/Northern California coast, maybe Capetown, and Albany Western Australia. I've seen a few waifs from the indoor trade surviving neglected on the street in a can or growing in a protected dooryard, but I'm curious about actually ground-planting as a real tree.

Athens, alas, is not a comparable case as summers are much hotter than mine.

Jason--

I'd have serious doubts about this one making it unprotected in the Bay Area. Seems to need a fair amount of heat to grow well, unlike F. microcarpa, F. macrophylla, F. rubiginosa. Without heat, it grows slowly, and is slow to recover without it from frost damage. And it takes very little frost. If you can grow F. benjamina well outdoors (not sheltered), you may be able to grow it. If not, forget it.

I did recently see a BIG (by CA standards) one in Cypress/N Long Beach area that was about 30', needing clearance for primary utilities! I'll try to get pics soon.