Tree of the Week: Elephant Ear Fig Tree

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The elephant ear fig tree –- Ficus auriculata

‘Elephant ear’ may be an exaggeration, but the leaves of this tree are huge, as much as 1 1/2 feet across. Add to that the very large figs seemingly sprouting directly atop of the trunk and you have a most unusual tree. This very tropical-looking member of the Moraceae, or mulberry, family, also known as Roxburgh’s fig and F. roxburghii, is native to rain forest edges and clearings in grasslands in India, Nepal, China and Southeast Asia.

The elephant ear fig tree is a briefly deciduous, moderately fast-growing small tree reaches 25 feet high and wide. The fairly smooth, short, light gray trunk soon divides in stout laterals. Young leaves start out mahogany red, then turn lush green. They are oval- to heart-shaped, 15 inches across or more. Since they are easily torn by wind it is best to grow them in a protected place; they also make great indoor plants. Branches and leaves share the common ficus characteristic of oozing a milky white sap when wounded. Also typical for the species is that flowers occur inside a receptacle, which develops into the fleshy fig (technically called a synconium) once the flowers are pollinated by their proper wasp.

The fruits are popular and sweet, but not commonly eaten outside their native area. They grow on short spurs on the trunk and branches; this cauliflory (stem-flower) is thought to have developed to give climbing or flying pollinators living far below the forest canopy their chance too. The tree likes fairly constant moisture; it is not drought-resistant.

In the Southland we grow this tree for its beauty or interest but in other parts of the world, such as Nepal, where growing populations seriously threaten natural resources, it is one of several valuable fodder trees. There, the leaves are fed to cattle, and the trees protect the soil from erosion.

-- Pieter Severynen

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