Ficus rubiginosa Desf. ex Vent.
Port Jackson fig
Evergreen, monoecious, small to large tree, often starting life as an epiphyte. Young stems finely hairy, becoming glabrous. Lvs ± glabrous above, sparsely to densely clothed in fine reddish hairs below, not lobed, entire, ovate-elliptic to obovate, obtuse at base, acute to obtuse at apex, (4)-6-12 cm long; lateral veins not prominently raised; petiole < blade; stipules 2 per node, densely hairy, triangular, caducous. Infl. green with rusty hairs, globose, shortly pedunculate. Syncarp deep yellow to dull red, 12-20 mm diam.; achenes irregularly ovoid, c. 1.5 mm long.
>N.: recently naturalised in Auckland City only.
N.S.W., Queensland 1981
Waste places.
Port Jackson fig is cultivated as an ornamental tree and is pollinated by its introduced wasp; as a result it seeds freely, and occasionally escapes. Moreton Bay fig, F. macrophylla Desf., is also cultivated in northern areas, but as this sp. lacks its pollinating wasp it is unable to reproduce from seed. F. macrophylla is distinguished by the ± glabrous lvs up to 25 cm long in mature plants, and larger, long-pedunculate purplish figs. Collections of naturalised plants of F. rubiginosa were earlier incorrectly recorded as F. macrophylla [ see, Gardner, R. O., Auckland Bot. Soc. Newsletter 38: 7 (1983)].
