Flora of North America species comparison

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Ficus carica

Ficus microcarpa

common fig, edible fig, fiku, piku

Chinese banyan, Indian laurel
Habit Shrubs or small trees, deciduous, to 5 m. Roots not adventitious. Trees, evergreen, to 30 m. Roots aerial, abundant, sometimes developing pillar-roots.
Bark

grayish, slightly roughened.

gray.
Branchlets

pubescent.

brown, glabrous.
Leaves

blade obovate, nearly orbiculate, or ovate, palmately 3-5-lobed, 15-30 × 15-30 cm, base cordate, margins undulate or irregularly dentate, apex acute to obtuse;

surfaces abaxially and adaxially scabrous-pubescent;

basal veins 5 pairs;

lateral veins irregularly spaced.

blade elliptic, obovate to ovate, 3-11 × 1.5-6 cm, thinly leathery, base obtuse to cuneate, margins entire, apex nearly acute to acuminate;

surfaces abaxially and adaxially glabrous;

basal veins 1(-2) pairs;

lateral veins 5-9 pairs, uniformly spaced.
Syconia

solitary, sessile, green, yellow, or red-purple, pyriform, 5-8 cm, pubescent;

peduncle ca. 1 cm; subtending bracts ovate, 1-2 mm;

ostiole with 3 subtending bracts, umbonate.

paired, sessile, purple or black, obovoid, pyriform, or nearly globose, 9-11 × 5-6 mm; subtending bracts ovate-lanceolate, 1.5-3.5 mm, apex obtuse to subacute;

ostiole closed by 3 flat, apical bracts 2-2.5 mm wide, umbonate.

Ficus carica

Ficus microcarpa
Phenology Flowering spring–summer. Flowering all year.
Habitat Disturbed sites Disturbed sites
Elevation 0-300 m (0-1000 ft) 0-20 m (0-100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; FL; MA; NC; SC; Mexico; West Indies; native to Asia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; West Indies; native to Eastern Hemisphere [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ficus carica is known to escape in Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia, although no specific localities are documented.

Ficus carica was first known from Caria in southwestern Asia. It is cultivated for its edible fruit and becomes established outside of cultivation only sporadically in the United States. It can sometimes be found persisting around old habitations and old orchards.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Ficus microcarpa is commonly cultivated in Florida. At press time, word had been received (Michael O'Brien, pers. comm.) that F. microcarpa was recently found in the Los Angeles area, where the pollinating wasp apparently has been present since 1992. Voucher specimens are not yet available.

(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. benghalensis, F. benjamina, F. citrifolia, F. elastica, F. microcarpa, F. pumila, F. religiosa
F. americana, F. aurea, F. benghalensis, F. benjamina, F. carica, F. citrifolia, F. elastica, F. pumila, F. religiosa
Synonyms Urostigma microcarpa
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1059. (1753) Linnaeus f.: Suppl. Pl., 442. (1782)
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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