Ficus thonningii - fig with an attidude

[Matt S]

Ficus thonningii is a type of strangler fig from Africa that is a favourite here in Adelaide because of it's fast growth and ability to create aerial roots despite our low humidity.

Yesterday I was moving a tray of shimpaku seedlings when I noticed something was preventing me from lifting it, despite the tray being on a shelf above the ground. Looking closer I could see that the culprit was a thonningii in a plastic pot next to the tray. Over winter it had sent a bunch of roots over the rim looking for more room, finding a jackpot in the tray of seedlings and then out the bottom into the ground. Aggressive buggers!

Ficus thonningii agression.jpg

Matt.

[TimIAm]

Bonus! Would love to get my hands on one of these, but we don't have them in NSW.

I once climbed on the roof to clean my gutters and there was Moreton Bay which had been growing there for a while.

[Rintar]

Very opportunistic of it got to love figs