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''Ficus macrophylla'', commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen
banyan A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...
tree of the family
Moraceae The Moraceae — often called the mulberry family or fig family — are a family of flowering plants comprising about 38 genera and over 1100 species. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates; however ...
native to eastern Australia, from the
Wide Bay–Burnett Wide Bay–Burnett is a region of the Australian state of Queensland, located between north of the state capital, Brisbane. The area's population growth has exceeded the state average over the past 20 years, and it is forecast to grow to more ...
region in the north to the
Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...
in
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, as well as
Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland P ...
. Its common name is derived from
Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...
in
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
, Australia. It is best known for its imposing buttress roots. ''Ficus macrophylla'' is called a strangler fig because seed germination usually takes place in the canopy of a
host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host ...
tree, where the seedling lives as an epiphyte until its roots establish contact with the ground, when it enlarges and strangles its host, eventually becoming a freestanding tree by itself. Individuals may reach in height. Like all figs, it has an obligate mutualism with
fig wasp Fig wasps are wasps of the superfamily Chalcidoidea which spend their larval stage inside figs. Most are pollinators but others simply feed off the plant. The non-pollinators belong to several groups within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, while the ...
s; figs are pollinated only by fig wasps, and fig wasps can reproduce only in fig flowers. Many species of birds, including pigeons, parrots, and various passerines, eat the fruit. ''Ficus macrophylla'' is widely used as a feature tree in public parks and gardens in warmer climates such as California, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Malta, northern New Zealand (Auckland), and Australia. Old specimens can reach tremendous size, and their aggressive root system renders them unsuitable for all but the largest private gardens.


Taxonomy

South African botanist Christiaan Hendrik Persoon published a formal
description Description is the pattern of narrative development that aims to make vivid a place, object, character, or group. Description is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as ''modes of discourse''), along with exposition, argumentation, and narra ...
of the Moreton Bay fig in his 1807 work ''Synopsis Plantarum'', the material having been reported by French botanist
René Louiche Desfontaines René Louiche Desfontaines (14 February 1750 – 16 November 1833) was a French botanist. Desfontaines was born near Tremblay in Brittany. He attended the Collège de Rennes and in 1773 went to Paris to study medicine. His interest in bot ...
in 1804. The type specimen has been lost but was possibly located in Florence. The specific epithet ''macrophylla'' is derived from the
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
''makros'' "large" and ''phyllon'' "leaf", and refers to the size of the leaves. In the early 19th century, Italian botanist
Vincenzo Tineo Vincenzo Tineo ( Militello in Val di Catania, 27 February 1791 – Palermo, 25 July 1856) was an Italian Botanist. From 1814 to 1856 he was the director of the Palermo Botanical Garden. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation wh ...
of the
Orto botanico di Palermo The Orto Botanico di Palermo (''Palermo Botanical Garden'') is both a botanical garden and a research and educational institution of the Department of Botany of the University of Palermo. The garden lies within the city of Palermo, Italy at ...
in Sicily obtained a plant from a French nursery that grew to a prodigious size with a
banyan A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...
habit. This form was propagated and grown in gardens around Sicily. A later director of the gardens,
Antonino Borzì Antonino Borzì (20 August 1852, in Castroreale – 24 August 1921, in Lucca) was an Italian botanist. Life and career Antonino Borzì became a professor of botany at the University of Palermo in 1879 and at the University of Messina in 1892 ...
, described it as ''Ficus magnolioides'' in 1897, distinguishing it from ''F. macrophylla'' on account of its larger leaves with greener undersides. This name was widely used in Europe. Australian botanist Charles Moore described ''Ficus columnaris'' in 1870 from material collected from
Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland P ...
, choosing the species name from the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''columnaris'' for the column-like roots. English botanist
E. J. H. Corner Edred John Henry Corner FRS (12 January 1906 – 14 September 1996) was an English mycologist and botanist who occupied the posts of assistant director at the Singapore Botanic Gardens (1929–1946) and Professor of Tropical Botany at the Uni ...
reduced this to synonymy with ''F. macrophylla'' in 1965, before P. S. Green noted it was distinct enough for subspecies status in 1986. Australian botanist Dale J. Dixon reviewed material and felt the differences too minor to warrant subspecific status, and recognised two
forms Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data * ...
: ''Ficus macrophylla'' f. ''macrophylla'', a free-standing tree
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to mainland Australia; and ''Ficus macrophylla'' f. ''columnaris'', a
hemiepiphyte A hemiepiphyte is a plant that spends part of its life cycle as an epiphyte. The seeds of primary hemiepiphytes germinate in the canopy and initially live epiphytically. They send roots downward, and these roots eventually make contact with th ...
lacking a distinct main trunk and endemic to Lord Howe Island. Review of ''F. magnolioides'' by Silvio Fici and Francesco Maria Raimondo found that it was ''F. macrophylla'' f. ''columnaris''. The species is commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig, after Moreton Bay in southern Queensland, although it is found elsewhere. An alternate name—black fig—is derived from the dark colour of the ageing bark. With over 750 species, ''
Ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending in ...
'' is one of the largest
angiosperm Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
genera. Based on
morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...
, Corner divided the genus into four subgenera; later expanded to six. In this classification, the Moreton Bay fig was placed in subseries ''Malvanthereae'',
series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...
''Malvanthereae'',
section Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...
''Malvanthera'' of the subgenus ''
Urostigma A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a Ficus, fig that develops accessory trunks from Aerial_root#"Stranglers"_(prop-root), adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees ...
''. In his reclassification of the Australian ''Malvanthera'', Dixon altered the delimitations of the series within the section but left this species in series ''Malvanthereae''. In 2005, Dutch botanist
Cornelis Berg Cornelis Christiaan (Cees) Berg (1934–2012) was a Dutch botanist known for his work on the plant family Moraceae. Early life and education Berg was born on 7 February 1934 in Bandung, Indonesia, then part of the Dutch East Indies, and later mov ...
completed Corner's treatment of the
Moraceae The Moraceae — often called the mulberry family or fig family — are a family of flowering plants comprising about 38 genera and over 1100 species. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates; however ...
for the ''Flora Malesiana''; the completion of that work had been delayed since 1972 as a result of disagreements between Corner and C. J. J. G. van Steenis, editor of the ''Flora Malesiana''. Berg combined sections ''Stilpnophyllum'' and ''Malvanthera'' into an expanded section ''Stilpnophyllum''. This left the Moreton Bay fig in subsection ''Malvanthera'', section ''Stilpnophyllum''. In a 2008 study on DNA sequences from the nuclear ribosomal
internal Internal may refer to: *Internality as a concept in behavioural economics *Neijia, internal styles of Chinese martial arts *Neigong or "internal skills", a type of exercise in meditation associated with Daoism *''Internal (album)'' by Safia, 2016 ...
and
external transcribed spacer External transcribed spacer (ETS) refers to a piece of non-functional RNA, closely related to the internal transcribed spacer, which is situated outside structural ribosomal RNAs (rRNA) on a common precursor transcript. ETS sequences characterist ...
s, Danish botanist Nina Rønsted and colleagues rejected previous subdivisions of the ''Malvanthera''. Instead, they divided section ''Malvanthera'' into three subsections—''Malvantherae'', ''Platypodeae,'' and ''Hesperidiiformes''. In this system, the Moreton Bay fig is in the subsection ''Malvantherae'', along with '' F. pleurocarpa''. The ''Malvantherae'' appear to be basal (an early offshoot) to the group. ''F. macrophylla'' form ''macrophylla'' is native to mainland Australia, while form ''columnaris'' of ''macrophylla'' colonised Lord Howe Island. The section ''Malvanthera'' itself is thought to have evolved 41 million years ago and radiated around 35 million years ago.


Description

The Moreton Bay fig is an
evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
tree that can reach heights of . The trunk can be massive, with thick, prominent buttressing, and reach a diameter of . The rough bark is grey-brown, and marked with various blemishes. The Lord Howe form of Moreton Bay fig has a habit of dropping
aerial root Aerial roots are roots above the ground. They are almost always adventitious. They are found in diverse plant species, including epiphytes such as orchids (''Orchidaceae''), tropical coastal swamp trees such as mangroves, banyan figs (''Fic ...
s from its branches, which upon reaching the ground, thicken into supplementary trunks which help to support the weight of its crown. The leaves and branches bleed a milky sap if cut or broken. The figs are in diameter, turning from green to purple with lighter spots as they ripen; ripe fruit may be found year-round, although they are more abundant from February to May. It is a rainforest plant and in this environment more often grows in the form of an
epiphytic An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...
strangler vine than that of a tree. When its seeds land in the branch of a host tree it sends aerial, "strangler" roots down the host trunk, eventually killing the host and standing alone. It is monoecious: each tree bears functional male and female flowers. As indicated by its specific epithet, it has large, elliptic, leathery, dark green leaves, long, and they are arranged alternately on the stems. The fruit is small, round, and greenish, ripening and turning purple at any time of year; it is known as a syconium, an inverted inflorescence with the flowers lining an internal cavity.


Distribution and habitat

The Moreton Bay fig is a native of eastern coastal Australia, from the
Wide Bay–Burnett Wide Bay–Burnett is a region of the Australian state of Queensland, located between north of the state capital, Brisbane. The area's population growth has exceeded the state average over the past 20 years, and it is forecast to grow to more ...
region in central Queensland, to the Shoalhaven River on the
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
south coast. It is found in subtropical, warm temperate, and dry rainforest, where, as an emergent tree, its crown may tower above the canopy, particularly along watercourses on
alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...
soils. In the Sydney region, ''F. macrophylla'' grows from sea level to 300 m (1000 ft) altitude, in areas with an average yearly rainfall of . It often grows with trees such as white booyong ('' Argyrodendron trifoliolatum''), ''
Flindersia ''Flindersia'' is a genus of 17 species of small to large trees in the family Rutaceae. They have simple or pinnate leaves, flowers arranged in panicles at or near the ends of branchlets and fruit that is a woody capsule containing winged seeds. ...
'' species, giant stinging tree (''
Dendrocnide excelsa ''Dendrocnide excelsa'', commonly known as the giant stinging tree or fibrewood, is a rainforest tree in the family ''Urticaceae'' which is endemism , endemic to eastern Australia. It occurs from Tathra, New South Wales to Imbil in southeastern ...
''), lacebark (''
Brachychiton discolor ''Brachychiton discolor'' is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. It grows in drier rainforest areas. Scattered from Paterson, New South Wales (32° S) to Mackay, Queensland (21° S). There is also an isolated community of these trees at Cap ...
''), red cedar (''
Toona ciliata ''Toona ciliata'' is a forest tree in the mahogany family which grows throughout southern Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Names It is commonly known as the red cedar (a name shared by other trees), toon or toona (al ...
''), hoop pine (''
Araucaria cunninghamii ''Araucaria cunninghamii'' is a species of ''Araucaria'' known as hoop pine. Other less commonly used names include colonial pine, Queensland pine, Dorrigo pine, Moreton Bay pine and Richmond River pine. The scientific name honours the botanist a ...
''), green-leaved fig (''
Ficus watkinsiana ''Ficus watkinsiana'', commonly known as strangler fig, Watkins' fig, nipple fig or the green-leaved Moreton Bay fig is a hemiepiphytic fig that is endemic to Australia. The species exists in three populations—one in northeast Queensland and ...
'') and ''
Cryptocarya obovata ''Cryptocarya obovata'' is a species of laurel growing on basaltic and fertile alluvial soils in eastern Australian rainforests. It is found from Wyong (33° S) in New South Wales to Gympie (27° S) in the state of Queensland. Extinct in the Ill ...
''. The soils it grows on are high in nutrients and include Bumbo
Latite Latite is an igneous, volcanic rock, with aphanitic- aphyric to aphyric-porphyritic texture. Its mineral assemblage is usually alkali feldspar and plagioclase in approximately equal amounts. Quartz is less than five percent and is absent in a f ...
and Budgong Sandstone. As rainforests were cleared, isolated specimens were left standing in fields as remnant trees, valued for their shade and shelter for livestock. One such tree was a landmark for and gave its name to the
Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wa ...
suburb of Figtree in New South Wales.


Ecology

The huge numbers of fruit produced by the Moreton Bay fig make it a key source of food in the rainforest. It is an important food to the
green catbird The green catbird (''Ailuroedus crassirostris'') is a species of bowerbird found in subtropical forests along the east coast of Australia, from southeastern Queensland to southern New South Wales. It is named after its distinctive call which soun ...
(''Ailuroedus crassirostris''), as well as fruit-eating pigeons such as the
wompoo fruit-dove The wompoo fruit dove (''Ptilinopus magnificus''), also known as wompoo pigeon, is one of the larger fruit doves native to New Guinea and eastern Australia. Taxonomy and systematics Subspecies There are generally 7-8 recognised subspecies, ...
(''Ptilinopus magnificus''), and
topknot pigeon The topknot pigeon (''Lopholaimus antarcticus'') is a pigeon native to eastern Australia. Taxonomy English naturalist George Shaw described the topknot pigeon as ''Columba antarctica'' in 1793. The topknot pigeon is sister taxon to a lineage th ...
(''Lopholaimus antarcticus''), and a sometime food of the
rose-crowned fruit-dove The rose-crowned fruit dove (''Ptilinopus regina''), also known as pink-capped fruit dove or Swainson's fruit dove, is a medium-sized, up to 22 cm long, green fruit dove with a grey head and breast, an orange belly, whitish throat, yellow-or ...
(''Ptilinopus regina''). Other bird species that eat the fruit include the
yellow-eyed cuckoo-shrike The barred cuckooshrike (''Coracina lineata''), also called the yellow-eyed cuckooshrike, is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found in eastern Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands. Taxonomy Subspec ...
(''Coracina lineata''),
pied currawong The pied currawong (''Strepera graculina'') is a black passerine bird native to eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island. One of three currawong species in the genus ''Strepera'', it is closely related to the butcherbirds and Australian magpie of ...
(''Strepera graculina''),
Australasian figbird The Australasian figbird (''Sphecotheres vieilloti''), also known as the green figbird (not to be confused with the Timor figbird), is a conspicuous, medium-sized passerine bird native to a wide range of wooded habitats in northern and eastern ...
(''Sphecotheres vieilloti''),
Regent bowerbird The regent bowerbird (''Sericulus chrysocephalus'') is a medium-sized, up to 25 cm long, sexually dimorphic bowerbird. The male bird is black with a golden orange-yellow crown, mantle and black-tipped wing feathers. It has yellow bill, black ...
(''Sericulus chrysocephalus''),
satin bowerbird The satin bowerbird (''Ptilonorhynchus violaceus'') is a bowerbird endemic to eastern Australia. A rare natural intergeneric hybrid between the satin bowerbird and the regent bowerbird is known as Rawnsley's bowerbird. Description Mature mal ...
(''Ptilonorhynchus violaceus''), and
Lewin's honeyeater Lewin's honeyeater (''Meliphaga lewinii'') is a bird that inhabits the ranges along the east coast of Australia. It has a semicircular ear-patch, pale yellow in colour. The name of this bird commemorates the Australian artist John Lewin. Descri ...
(''Meliphaga lewinii'').
Fruit bats In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...
such as the
grey-headed flying-fox The grey-headed flying fox (''Pteropus poliocephalus'') is a megabat native to Australia. The species shares mainland Australia with three other members of the genus ''Pteropus'': the little red '' P. scapulatus'', spectacled '' P. conspicilla ...
(''Pteropus poliocephalus'') also feed on the fruit. As well as the pollinating
fig wasp Fig wasps are wasps of the superfamily Chalcidoidea which spend their larval stage inside figs. Most are pollinators but others simply feed off the plant. The non-pollinators belong to several groups within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, while the ...
, ''
Pleistodontes froggatti ''Pleistodontes froggatti'' is a species of fig wasp which is native to Australia. It has an obligate mutualism with the Moreton Bay Fig, ''Ficus macrophylla'', the species it pollinates. Outside of Australia, populations have become establi ...
'', syconia of the Moreton Bay fig are host to several species of non-pollinating chalcidoid wasps including ''
Sycoscapter australis ''Sycoscapter'' is a genus of non-pollinating fig wasp which is native to the Afrotropical, Indomalayan and Australasian realms. They are parasitoids of fig wasps in the ''Ceratosolen ''Ceratosolen'' is an Old World wasp genus in the family ...
'' (
Pteromalidae The Pteromalidae are a very large family of mostly parasitoid wasps, with some 3,450 described species in about 640 genera (the number was greater, but many species and genera have been reduced by synonymy in recent years). The subfamily-level d ...
), '' Eukobelea hallami'' ( Sycophaginae), and '' Meselatus'' sp. ( Epichrysomallinae). The
nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...
species '' Schistonchus macrophylla'' and '' Schistonchus altermacrophylla'' are found in the syconia, where they parasitise ''P. froggattii''. The
thrips Thrips ( order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Different thrips species feed mostly on plants by puncturing and sucking up the contents, although a few are ...
species ''
Gynaikothrips australis ''Gynaikothrips'' is a genus of tube-tailed thrips in the family Phlaeothripidae. There are more than 30 described species in ''Gynaikothrips''. Species These 35 species belong to the genus ''Gynaikothrips'': * ''Gynaikothrips additamentus'' Ka ...
'' feeds on the underside of new leaves of ''F. macrophylla'', as well as those of ''F. rubiginosa'' and ''F. obliqua''. As plant cells die, nearby cells are induced into forming
meristem The meristem is a type of tissue found in plants. It consists of undifferentiated cells (meristematic cells) capable of cell division. Cells in the meristem can develop into all the other tissues and organs that occur in plants. These cells conti ...
tissue and a gall results and the leaves become distorted and curl over. The thrips begin feeding when the tree has flushes of new growth, and the life cycle is around six weeks. At other times, thrips reside on old leaves without feeding. The species pupates sheltered in the bark. The thrips remain in the galls at night and wander about in the daytime and return in the evening, possibly to different galls about the tree. Stressed trees can also be attacked by
psyllids Psyllidae, the jumping plant lice or psyllids, are a family of small plant-feeding insects that tend to be very host-specific, i.e. each plant-louse species only feeds on one plant species (monophagous) or feeds on a few closely related plants ( ...
to the point of defoliation. Grubs hatch from eggs laid on the edges of leaves and burrow into the leaf to suck nutrients, the tree's latex shielding the insect. Caterpillars of the moth species '' Lactura caminaea'' ( Lacturidae) can strip trees of their leaves. The tree is also a host for the
longhorn beetle The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns, are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than ...
(Cerambycidae) species '' Agrianome spinicollis''. The fungal pathogen brown root rot (''
Phellinus noxius ''Phellinus noxius'' is a plant pathogen. References External links Fungal plant pathogens and diseases noxius Fungi described in 1932 {{fungus-plant-disease-stub ...
'') has infected and killed this species.


Reproduction and life span

Figs have an obligate mutualism with fig wasps (Agaonidae); figs are pollinated only by fig wasps, and fig wasps can reproduce only in fig flowers. Generally, each fig species depends on a single species of wasp for pollination. The wasps are similarly dependent on their fig species to reproduce. The mainland and Lord Howe populations of the Moreton Bay fig are both pollinated by ''
Pleistodontes froggatti ''Pleistodontes froggatti'' is a species of fig wasp which is native to Australia. It has an obligate mutualism with the Moreton Bay Fig, ''Ficus macrophylla'', the species it pollinates. Outside of Australia, populations have become establi ...
''. As is the case with all figs, the fruit is an inverted
inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
known as a syconium, with tiny flowers arising from the inner surface. ''Ficus macrophylla'' is monoecious—both male and female flowers are found on the same plant, and, in fact, in the same fruit, although they mature at different times. Female wasps enter the syconium and lay eggs in the female flowers as they mature. These eggs later hatch and the progeny mate. The females of the new generation collect pollen from the male flowers, which have matured by this point, and leave to visit other syconia and repeat the process. A field study in Brisbane found that ''F. macrophylla'' trees often bore both male and female syconia at the same time—which could be beneficial for reproduction in small, isolated populations such as those on islands. The same study found that male phase syconia development persisted through the winter, showing that its wasp pollinator tolerated cooler weather than those of more tropical fig species. ''F. macrophylla'' itself can endure cooler climates than other fig species. Moreton Bay fig trees live for over 100 years in the wild.


Potentially invasive species

''Ficus macrophylla'' is commonly cultivated in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
and northern
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. In both places, it has now
naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...
, having acquired its pollinating wasp (''Pleistodontes froggatti''). In Hawaii, the wasp was deliberately introduced in 1921, and in New Zealand it was first recorded in 1993, having arrived by long-distance dispersal from Australia. The arrival of the wasp led to prolific production of fruits containing many small seeds adapted for dispersal by birds. The Moreton Bay fig has been found growing on both native and introduced trees in New Zealand and Hawaii. The size and vigour of this fig in New Zealand, and its lack of natural enemies, as well as its immunity to possum browsing, indicate that it may be able to invade forest and other native plant communities. Occasional
garden escape Escaped plants are Cultigen, cultivated plants, usually garden plants, that are not originally native to an area, and due to their Open pollination, dispersal strategies, have escaped from Gardening, cultivation and have settled in the wild and P ...
es have been recorded in Turkey.


Cultivation

The Moreton Bay fig has been widely used in public parks in frost-free areas, and was popular with early settlers of Australia. Around the beginning of the 20th century, the director of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney,
Joseph Maiden Joseph Henry Maiden (25 April 1859 – 16 November 1925) was a botanist who made a major contribution to knowledge of the Australian flora, especially the genus ''Eucalyptus''. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation when citing ...
, advocated the planting of street trees, generally uniform rows of the one species. He recommended Moreton Bay figs be spaced at intervals—far enough to avoid crowding as the trees matured, but close enough so that their branches would eventually interlock. Specimens can reach massive proportions, and have thrived in drier climates; impressive specimen trees have been grown in the Waring Gardens in
Deniliquin Deniliquin () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, close to the border with Victoria. It is the largest town in the Edward River Council local government area. Deniliquin is located at the intersection of the Riverina ...
, and
Hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...
. They can withstand light frosts and can cope with salt-laden spray in coastal situations, and their fruit is beneficial for urban wildlife. However, their huge size precludes use in all but the largest gardens, and their roots are highly invasive and can damage piping and disrupt footpaths and roadways; the vast quantities of crushed fruit can be messy on the ground. Especially due to their tendency for root buttressing, they are frequently seen as bonsai, although they are much more suited to larger styles as their large leaves do not reduce much in size and their stems have long intervals (internodal spaces) between successive leaves. It can be used as an indoor plant in medium to brightly lit indoor spaces.


Notable specimens

Large specimens of Moreton Bay fig trees are found in many parks and properties throughout eastern and northeastern Australia. The
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
,
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, and
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
botanical gardens A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
contain numerous specimens planted in the middle of the 19th century. These trees are up to tall. At
Mount Keira Mount Keira () is a suburb and mountain in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. Mount Keira is a site of significant cultural heritage for the Wodi Wodi people. The name Mount Keira derives from the Wodi Wodi name for the mounta ...
, near
Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wa ...
there is a Moreton Bay fig measured at tall. A notable tree in the Sydney suburb of Randwick, the 150-year-old "Tree of Knowledge", was controversially cut down in 2016 to make way for the
CBD and South East Light Rail The CBD and South East Light Rail is a light rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Construction commenced in October 2015, with services between Circular Quay and Randwick commencing on 14 December 2019 as the L2 Randwick Line, and ...
. There are many large specimens in New Zealand. A Moreton Bay fig at Pahi on the
Kaipara Harbour Kaipara Harbour is a large enclosed harbour estuary complex on the north western side of the North Island of New Zealand. The northern part of the harbour is administered by the Kaipara District and the southern part is administered by the Auckl ...
, Northland, was measured in 1984 as high and wide, and in 2011 had a girth of . The Moreton Bay fig was introduced into cultivation into
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
in the United States in the 1870s, 13 specimens being classified as Exceptional Trees of Los Angeles in 1980. The tallest ''Ficus macrophylla'' in North America is adjacent to
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
's
Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
and was planted in 1914. By 1996 it stood high and across. The widest Moreton Bay fig in North America is
Santa Barbara's Moreton Bay Fig Tree Santa Barbara's Moreton Bay Fig Tree located in Santa Barbara, California is believed to be the largest ''Ficus macrophylla'' in the United States.Days, M. L. (1977). ''Histories of individual parks Santa Barbara California''. Santa Barbara, CA: ...
. It was planted in 1876, reportedly by a young girl who was given a seedling by an Australian sailor. It measures across. The Aoyama Tree stands between the
Japanese American National Museum The is located in Los Angeles, California, and dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Japanese Americans. Founded in 1992, it is located in the Little Tokyo area near downtown. The museum is an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affil ...
and the Temporary Contemporary in downtown Los Angeles. It was planted by Buddhist Japanese Americans in the early 20th century. Two South African specimens, in the
Arderne Gardens Arderne Gardens is a public park and arboretum in Claremont, Cape Town, located in the Western Cape of South Africa. It was established by in 1845 by Ralph Henry Arderne, a timber merchant originally from Cheshire, England. In 1979, the park w ...
in Claremont and the Pretoria Zoo respectively, have the widest and second-widest canopies of any single-stemmed trees in the country. The Pretoria specimen was planted before 1899, and was tall with a canopy width of by 2012. There is a notable specimen sprawling on steps at the
Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra The Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra ( or simply ''Jardim Botânico'') is a botanical garden in Coimbra, Portugal. History It was founded in 1772 by Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (the Marquis of Pombal). The location for ...
, Portugal. ''Ficus macrophylla'' has been used in public spaces in Palermo in Sicily, with impressive specimens found in the Orto Botanico, the gardens of the Villa Garibaldi, Giardino Inglese, and in some squares.


Uses

The soft light timber has a wavy texture and is used for cases.
Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
traditionally use the fibres for fishing nets. The fruits are edible and taste like other fig varieties.


See also

*
Ficus rubiginosa ''Ficus rubiginosa'', the rusty fig or Port Jackson fig (''damun'' in the Dharug language), is a species of flowering plant native to eastern Australia in the genus ''Ficus''. Beginning as a seedling that grows on other plants ( hemiepiphyte) ...
*
Ficus benjamina ''Ficus benjamina'', commonly known as weeping fig, benjamin fig or ficus tree, and often sold in stores as just ficus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae, native to Asia and Australia. It is the official tree of Bangkok. The ...


References


External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1439079 Epiphytes macrophylla macrophylla Flora of Lord Howe Island Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Garden plants of Australia Ornamental trees Plants described in 1807 Rosales of Australia Trees of Australia