Flora of North America species comparison

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Ficus microcarpa

Chinese banyan, Indian laurel
Habit Trees, evergreen, to 30 m.
Roots

aerial, abundant, sometimes developing pillar-roots.
Bark

gray.
Branchlets

brown, glabrous.
Leaves

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

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 microcarpa
Phenology Flowering all year.
Habitat Disturbed sites
Elevation 0-20 m (0-100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; West Indies; native to Eastern Hemisphere [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.
Parent taxa Moraceae > Ficus
Sibling taxa
F. americana, F. aurea, F. benghalensis, F. benjamina, F. carica, F. citrifolia, F. elastica, F. pumila, F. religiosa
Synonyms Urostigma microcarpa
Name authority 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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