Search Fact Sheets Virginia Tech Dendrology

Moreton Bay fig Moraceae Ficus macrophylla Desf. ex Pers. Listen to the Latin Print a QR link to this factsheet symbol: FIMA
Leaf: Alternate, simple, entire margins, evergreen, thick, oblong to elliptical, to 10 inches long, shiny dark green above, paler or rust-colored below; exuding mildy sap when broken.
Flower: Species is monoecious; small, produced inside of a small round, greenish receptacles that occur in leaf axils near branch tips.
Fruit: Round, to 1 inch in diameter, spotted, turning purple when ripe, produced nearly year round.
Twig: Stout, green turning gray to red-brown, buds long and slender, leaf scar shield-shaped; contains a white latex sap.
Bark: Thin, smooth and gray when young; becoming dark with age.
Form: In its native habitat this massive tree can begin as an epiphyte, eventually stangling the "host plant". Planted specimens are generally single-stemmed with a wide-spreading dense crown. Trees eventually develop large buttressed roots and may develop aerial roots reaching down from the crown.
 Looks like: strangler fig

Moreton Bay fig leaf image
Moreton Bay fig fruit image
Moreton Bay fig twig image
Moreton Bay fig bark image
Moreton Bay fig form image
Moreton Bay fig map image

Additional Range Information: Ficus macrophylla is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and is not known to widely escape cultivaton. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDA Plants Database
All material 2025 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information