Flora of North America species comparison

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Ficus benghalensis

Ficus elastica

banyan tree, Indian banyan

India rubber plant, Indian rubberplant
Habit Trees, evergreen, to 30 m. Roots aerial, often descending to ground level and forming pillar-roots Bark of trunks and older branches brown, smooth. Trees, evergreen, to 12 m, epiphytic when young.
Roots

aerial, abundant.
Bark

gray, smooth or slightly roughened.
Branchlets

puberulent, glabrescent in age.

greenish brown, glabrous.
Leaves

blade ovate, 10-30 × 7-20 cm, leathery, base cordate, margins entire, apex obtuse;

surfaces abaxially puberulent, adaxially glabrous;

basal veins (2-)3-4 pairs, 1/3-1/2 length of blade, reticulations regular;

lateral veins 5-6(-7) pairs.

blade oblong-elliptic to obovate, 9-30 × 5-12 cm, leathery, base rounded, margins entire, apex abruptly short-acuminate or apiculate;

surfaces abaxially and adaxially glabrous;

basal veins 1(-2) pairs;

lateral veins 10 or more, parallel;

secondary veins inconspicuous.
Syconia

paired, sessile, orange or red, depressed-globose, 1.5-2 × 2-2.5 mm, pubescent; subtending bracts ovate, 3-7 mm, puberulous;

ostiole closed by 3 flat or nearly umbonate apical bracts 3-4 mm wide.

paired, sessile, greenish yellow, oblong-ovoid, ca. 2 × ca. 1.5 cm, glabrous; subtending bracts caducous, leaving annual scar, entirely enclosing young syconia, glabrous;

ostiole closed by 3 apical bracts, umbonate.

Ficus benghalensis

Ficus elastica
Phenology Flowering all year. Flowering all year.
Habitat Disturbed thickets Disturbed sites
Elevation 0-10 m (0-0 ft) 0-10 m (0-0 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; Asia (native to Pakistan and India) [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; West Indies (Lesser Antilles); Asia (native to India) [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ficus elastica is commonly cultivated. It has not been collected recently in the area of the flora.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Moraceae > Ficus Moraceae > Ficus
Sibling taxa
F. americana, F. aurea, F. benjamina, F. carica, F. citrifolia, F. elastica, F. microcarpa, F. pumila, F. religiosa
F. americana, F. aurea, F. benghalensis, F. benjamina, F. carica, F. citrifolia, F. microcarpa, F. pumila, F. religiosa
Synonyms Macrophthalma elastica, Urostigma elasticum
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1059. (1753) Roxburgh ex Hornemann: Suppl. Hort. Bot. Hafn., 7. (1819)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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