Ficus lyrata
Common Name(s):
- Phonetic Spelling
- FY-kus ly-RAY-tuh
- Description
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Small tropical tree, commonly grown as a houseplant. When mature they can make a great focal point in a living room or office space. They prefer bright light and average humidity. They are sensitive to overwatering and will lose their leaves. Not quite as easy to grow as a rubber plant.
Quick ID Hints:
- Leaves are LARGE, leathery and FIDDLE-SHAPED
- Leaves are bullate and not glossy
Evergreen shrub or tree to 39', erect with spreading crown, sometimes initially epiphytic in the wild.
Prized for large, leathery, fiddle-shaped (and -sized) leaves; fruit is seldom seen in interior sites; texturally heavy plant best for large spaces; cut surfaces will exude and drip sap; in the wild, often starts as epiphyte and strangles host.
Prefers medium to high light, dry soil and medium relative humidity with a temperature of greater than 55 degrees F; pest/disease problems.
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Ficus
- Species:
- lyrata
- Family:
- Moraceae
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- W. Central Tropical Africa
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Tree
- Growth Rate:
- Slow
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Fruit:
- Fruit Description:
- A globose fig, finely pubescent, solitary or in pairs, green with white flecks, 1 x 1 ".
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Flowers:
- Flower Description:
- Minute, axillary, unisexual, enclosed in fleshy receptacle (fig), entered by apical orifice and pollinated by fig wasps.
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Leaves:
- Leaf Color:
- Green
- Leaf Feel:
- Leathery
- Leaf Type:
- Simple
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Alternate
- Leaf Shape:
- Cordate
- Obovate
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Length:
- > 6 inches
- Leaf Width:
- > 6 inches
- Leaf Description:
- It has attractive oval and semi-lobed thick leathery green leaves. Some of the leaves resemble fiddles, hence the common name. Leaves have prominent veins and can grow 12 inches long and 5 inches wide. Alternate, simple, large, obovate to lyrate, apex truncate to obtuse, base cordate, bullate, initially finely pubescent and later glabrous, coriaceous, medium green, to 1.5 x 1'.
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Stem:
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
- Stem Description:
- Scarcely branched in younger specimens, stiff and sturdy; without aerial roots.
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Landscape:
- Problems:
- Problem for Cats
- Problem for Dogs
- Problem for Horses
