Moreton Bay Fig

Ficus macrophylla

A large evergreen tree found along Australia’s east coast from tropical Queensland to immediately south of Sydney and on Lord Howe Island. This tree is best known for its extensive buttress and aerial roots that may form a dense thicket.

The bark is smooth and grey, the leaves are oval-shaped and up to 200 mm long, glossy green on the top and rusty coloured beneath. The berry-shaped figs, up to 20 mm in diameter, yellowish when immature and purple when ripe, occur throughout the crown. It is a strangler fig, so seeds usually germinate on the branches of a host tree. It is grown world-wide as a specimen tree in parks and gardens but is unsuitable for home gardens because of its invasive roots.

How high can I grow? Up to 50 m.