AusBonsai

Hi everyone,



I was perusing eBay yesterday and stumbled upon this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Ficus-talbo ... 571wt_1037


100 Ficus talboti(i) seeds. Searches on various threads revealed no results, but Google searches claim it is a real species of Ficus. Google Images show relatively small leaves and trees covered in aerial roots.

As for the leaves, this comes from that seller:
"Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; stipules 0.5 cm long, ovate, pubescent, caducous and leaving annular scar; petioles 1-3 cm long, canaliculate, pubescent when young; lamina 5- 12.7 x 1.2-6.4 cm, ovate or elliptic, apex caudate-acuminate to caudate with blunt tip, base cuneate-acute, margin entire, coriaceous, shining above; midrib raised above; basally 3-5 nerved; secondary nerves 8-10 pairs, looped near margin; tertiary nerves admedially ramified."

So, has anyone ever heard of this species or tried its use for bonsai? I bought some seeds and will try to get some to sprout. We'll see.

Why do you bother growing figs from seed when its so easy to strike large cuttings ? I do understand the fact of seed grown figs have a bigger buttress when the tree matures.

I am inpatient so I always like to take large cuttings myself.

Brian wrote:Why do you bother growing figs from seed when its so easy to strike large cuttings ? I do understand the fact of seed grown figs have a bigger buttress when the tree matures.

I am inpatient so I always like to take large cuttings myself.

Given where I live, Ficus don't grow naturally and the only kinds you find at nurseries are your typical benjaminas and microcarpas. So the answer is simple, to obtain species I normally couldn't. Like this species, for example.