Ficus lyrata

Taxobox
name = "Ficus lyrata"


image_width = 250px
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Rosales
familia = Moraceae
genus = "Ficus"
subgenus = "Urostigma"
species = "F. lyrata"
binomial = "Ficus lyrata"
binomial_authority = Warb.

"Ficus lyrata", commonly known as the fiddle-leaf fig, is a species of fig tree, native to western Africa, from Cameroon west to Sierra Leone. It grows in lowland tropical rainforest.

It is a banyan fig ("Ficus" subgenus "Urostigma") that commonly starts life as an epiphyte high in the crown of another tree; it then sends roots down to the ground which envelop the trunk of the host tree and slowly strangles it. It can also grow as a free-standing tree on its own, growing up to 12-15 m (40-50 ft) tall. The leaves are variable in shape, but often with a broad apex and narrow middle, resembling a fiddle; they are up to convert|45|cm|in|abbr=on|0 long and convert|30|cm|in|abbr=on|0 broad, though usually smaller, with a leathery texture and a wavy margin. The fruit is a green fig 2.5-3 cm (1-¼ in) diameter.

Cultivation and uses

It is a popular ornamental tree in subtropical and tropical gardens, and is also grown as a houseplant, where it usually stays shorter when put into pots than when grown outdoors. Their main horticultural feature are their large leaves. Like other fig species, it can grow to a large tree if planted in the ground. Like all figs, it is frost tender.

External links

* [http://www.figweb.org/Ficus/Subgenus_Urostigma/Section_Galoglychia/Subsection_Cyathistipulae/Ficus_lyrata.htm Figweb: "Ficus lyrata"]
* [http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/reports/html/ficus_lyrata.htm Description at Plants of Hawaii.]
*Huxley, A., ed. (1992). "New RHS Dictionary of Gardening". Macmillan.