Another Florida Tree ID - Ficus benjamina ?

[The Silent Seed]

I go down to FL once a year for my business, and often find volunteers, or pick up weeds growing along the side of the road, etc. This is one such specimen. It was a random young tree growing along a sidewalk. Seems to be Ficus benjamina, but would like to confirm this.

[Eric in Orlando]

Ficus microcarpa, Laurel Fig

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Agree. Almost didn't recognize it because here it always has deformed leaves from plant lice I believe. It gets just as big as benjamina or banyans but can take a little more cold. It sets viable seed here while benjamina won't.

Benjamina has brighter green, pointier leaves that are much more supple than microcarpa.

[The Silent Seed]

COOL - Thanks!!!

[Walt]

Agree. Almost didn't recognize it because here it always has deformed leaves from plant lice I believe. It gets just as big as benjamina or banyans but can take a little more cold. It sets viable seed here while benjamina won't.

Benjamina has brighter green, pointier leaves that are much more supple than microcarpa.

So Ficus microcarpa sets viable seed here in Florida. I didn't know that, and that explains why a Ficus microcarpa came up in a wooded area of my property some years ago. A bird must of dumped the seed because there's no Ficus microcarpa that I know of within a mile of my house. But there are some very large F. microcarpa over by the lake about a mile from my house, planted back in the mid 1950s.

When I first noticed the F. microcarpa I first thought it was a Dahoon Holley, but upon closer inspection of the leaves I concluded it wasn't, and compared the leaves with another F. microcarpa that I had planted years ago that I'd dug up as a sapling on a vacant lot in town that had a big mother tree nearby.

[The Silent Seed]

Interesting!

[Eric in Orlando]

Ficus microcarpa is very prolific and weedy in SoFL. In the last few years I have been finding bird deposited seedlings around here though there are very few seeding trees.

[Bennz]

Are the Florida F, microcarpa trees good aerial rooters (banyans), or more like the 'nitida' forms in California?

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

I am not familiar with the California "nitida" forms, but here at least, the F. microcarpa was always called F. nitida when I was in skool. It is a good aerial rooter but probably not as prolific in that department as some others. It can be encouraged to form the aerial roots by lightly scoring the branch where roots are wanted. You can then build a tall box filled with soil to hasten the roots growth to the ground.

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/21464-thin-ficus-trunking/

[Eric in Orlando]

They often have aerial and prop roots in FL.

Here is a young specimen of a cultivar, 'Green Gem', at Leu Gardens in Orlando;

[The Silent Seed]

NICE! Hope mine does that soon.

I'm not a fan of the cutting method - the scar is pretty... ugly... no offense intended. I would imagine maybe wrapping a section of trunk with moist (whatever) and letting roots form, then slowly take the wrapping off ? Or would they just dry up and die after?

What exactly promotes aerial growth in nature? High moisture ?

[Walt]

I read in Riffle's book, The Tropical Look, that arid and semi-arid locations aren't conducive to Ficus species forming aerial roots. I assume the decending roots just dry up before they reach the ground. I think somebody on this forum from California said they encourage their ficus to produce aerial roots by artificially misting the air in proximity of their tree.

In any event, Ficus microcarpa in my area produce aerial roots which then from susidiary roots, but not with the same abundance as some ficus species.

Below are a couple of Ficus microcarpa trees growing at a girls 4H camp just N.W. of the town of Lake Placid, Florida (I live about two miles N.E.of town. I spoke with the camp director and he told me these (plus more) Ficus microcarpa were planted back in the early 1950s when the camp was first built, along with Ficus elastica and Ficus bengahlensis, all brought up from south Florida.

[Eric in Orlando]

Wow, those are some big ones !

The biggest F. microcarpa I have seen are at Selby Gardens in Sarasota, FL

There is also a huge one at McKee Gardens in Vero Beach. It was blown over in the 2004 hurricanes but stood back up. This photo is several years old, I hope it has grown back well

[Walt]

I was at Selby back in June of 2000 and saw the Ficus microcarpa. There's a nice old Ficus microcarpa next to the Highlands County Sheriff's Office in Sebring (the historic part). I was told it was planted in 1935. I have photos of it taken maybe 10 years ago, but they are stored on a CD.

On the outskirts of my subdivision there are some big Ficus microcarpa growing around Lake Clay. These, along with F. bengahlensis and other speces were planted back in the 1950s. I took Bob Riffle to see this stuff when he came to the June 2003 CFPACS meeting at my place. I remember him saying he wasn't familar with one particular ficus tree species. From what I gathered from the current owner of the 13 acre property around Lake Clay, the previous owner (the current owner's father) was involved with several people that were into bringing in exotic trees and plants at the time. The biggest F. benghalensis in Highlands County are growing on his property. I've taken cuttings from these banyans but none have ever rooted. I've been wanting a F. benghalensis for years to add to my ficus species count, but no luck. I've taken cutting from severy F. benghalensis up in Sebring, but none have ever rooted. I will try again this spring.

In any event, there's lots of F. microcarpa at the 4-H camp, plus the biggest Ficus elastica I've ever seen, not that I've been around much of south Florida. But the one at the 4-H camp is the biggest one I've seen in Highlands County. The camp sits at the S.E. side of a large lake, hence, it gets the "lake effect" climate. I talked to the director of the camp who had worked there 24 years (as of 2011), and he said he would leave home with frost on the ground and when he got to the camp there would be no frost. He did tell me that there was major damage there during the Dec.'89 freeze. But down here in the inland, radiational freezes are the killer of tropicals. Proximity to a big lake makes all the difference vis a vis the outlying lower areas. I'd say an easy USDA hardiness zone.

Above photo: One of many large Ficus microcarpa at girls 4-H camp

Above photo: Ficus elastica next to cabin at girls 4-H camp

[The Silent Seed]

Beautiful, huge trees! Thanks for sharing!

Not sure about cuttings - I have a small benghalensis, but I bought it on Ebay - no idea if they can be rooted from cuttings or not.

[Walt]

Beautiful, huge trees! Thanks for sharing!

Not sure about cuttings - I have a small benghalensis, but I bought it on Ebay - no idea if they can be rooted from cuttings or not.

Ficus benghalensis can be rooted from cuttings. I've made numerous rooted cuttings with F. microcarpa and F. altissima. I generally will make 20-30 cuttings, ranging from soft, medium, and hard wood. Normally, I will get some rooted cuttings within two weeks during hot weather. But I couldn't get rooted cuttings with F. benghalensis. This year (late spring) I will make more cuttings. Eventually, I should get at least one good rooted cutting. All I want is one healthy cutting that I can grow into a tree.

[The Silent Seed]

What would you say your success rate is with, say, 30 cuttings ?

[Walt]

At best, my success rate was about 20%, but that was with Ficus altissima cuttings. I had less success rate with F. microcarpa, maybe 10%.

I always made my cuttings during warm weather where nighttime temperatures didn't drop below 70 degrees F. I made my cuttings (soil end) on a bias and coated them with rooting harmone for maxium cross sectional area. I removed all but maybe one or two leaves from each cutting. My cuttings were about 10" long. I'm no expert on rooting cuttings. I figured by making at least 30 cuttings the odds of chance I would get at least one good rooted cutting.

As for F. bengahlensis, I think I must of made close to 50 cuttings, and I was very suprised I didn't get even one rooted cutting. Perhaps F. bengahlensis is harder to root than other species of ficus, I don't know. I ordered F. bengahlensis seed from an online seed source and not one germinated.

A forum member sent me some Ficus rubinginosa seeds and I have some beautiful 4 feet tall saplings. I planted one out this past fall to see how it would fare during the winter. So far, so good. The rest I will plant out come spring.

I made rooted cuttings of Hibiscus tiliaceus (from a huge tree at the 4-H camp) and got great success. This was in 2011. I have about five 15 feet tall Hibiscus tiliaceus trees now.

[The Silent Seed]

Very nice going on the seedlings, and the Hibiscus! I have never had luck with Ficus seeds purchased online either. If you decide to sell off one of your Ficus rubiginosa saplings, please think of me I have a variegated one, but not a green one, and it's one of my favorite trees, along with the F. benghalensis. They really are lovely trees aren't they?

[Bennz]

Regarding rooting Ficus, sometimes we overdo the care. I grow a lot of F. columnaris as it is the best banyan I know of for cool climates. I must have tried 100 or so cuttings to start with with maybe 5% success. I tried soft, semi-soft- and hardwood. I tried. single nodes. I tried larger pieces. I tried various root hormones, differing soil temperatures, high, medium and low humidity, different light intensities, and photoperiods, with no improvement on my success rate. Finally I decided it was very difficult to grow. Then one day I whacked off a 1m (3') piece with a machete and shoved it into the ground with no care at all. It grew. The secret to this tree is total neglect. Care for it, it will die. Treat it badly, it will grow well. Now I get close to 100% success using this method.

[Xerarch]

Ficus microcarpa 'nitida' are all over Phoenix AZ, they don't form the aerial roots at all in that climate, they can look spectacular, although they can get beat down by frost periodically especially on the outskirts.