Ficus lyrata

Ficus lyrata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Moraceae
Genus:	Ficus
Subgenus:	Urostigma
Species:	F. lyrata
Binomial name
Ficus lyrata Warb.

Ficus lyrata (a.k.a. Ficus pandurata), commonly known as the fiddle-leaf fig, is a species of fig tree, native to western Africa, from Cameroon west to Sierra Leone. It grows in lowland tropical rainforest.

It is a banyan fig (Ficus subgenus Urostigma) that commonly starts life as an epiphyte high in the crown of another tree; it then sends roots down to the ground which envelop the trunk of the host tree and slowly strangles it. It can also grow as a free-standing tree on its own, growing up to 12-15 m (40-50 ft) tall. The leaves are variable in shape, but often with a broad apex and narrow middle, resembling a fiddle; they are up to 45 cm (18 in) long and 30 cm (12 in) broad, though usually smaller, with a leathery texture and a wavy margin. The fruit is a green fig 2.5-3 cm (1-¼ in) diameter.

Cultivation and garden uses

It is a popular ornamental tree in subtropical and tropical gardens, and is also grown as a houseplant, where it usually stays shorter when put into pots than when grown outdoors. Its main horticultural feature are its large leaves, shaped somewhat like a lyre. Like other fig species, it can grow to a large tree if planted in the ground. Like most figs, it is frost tender.

External links

• Figweb: Ficus lyrata
• Description at Plants of Hawaii.
• Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan.