Epiphytes and Economics: rare fig auction

auctioning numerous rare figs. descriptions followed by photos...

my hybrids (small seedlings)

ficus fraseri x carica - mother is an australian sandpaper fig (sycidium subgenus). small tree with small figs. haven’t tested its graft compatible with carica. the hybrid seedlings have been relatively vigorous. the one seedling i grafted onto carica seems very compatible. so far most of the seedlings have leaves more lobed than carica.

ficus opposita x carica - mother is another australian sandpaper species with small figs on a small tree. my figs are sweet, with green flesh and a flavor a bit like kiwi. opposita is only a little graft compatible with carica, but the hybrid seedlings seem relatively vigorous. most of the seedlings have spade shaped leaves. so far i’ve only grafted one seedling onto 2 different caricas and both scions seem very compatible.

ficus racemosa x carica - the mother is a large, cauliflorous tree in the sycomorus sugenus. the figs are medium size and taste like tropical applesauce. most if not all of the hybrid seedlings have suffered from some degree of outbreeding depression. so i’m guessing that carica is more closely related to subgenus sycidium than subgenus sycomorus. interestingly, racemosa seems to be somewhat more graft compatible with carica than opposita. this is the first time that a dioecious species (carica) has been crossed with a monoecious species.

ficus ulmifolia x carica - another sandpaper small tree but this one is from the phillipines. the figs are small, sweet, and have orange flesh that tastes a bit like melon. so far the hybrid seedlings seem around as vigorous as the other 2 sycidium hybrids. haven't yet tried grafting any of the seedlings or the mother onto carica.

male figs

ficus carica variegated 10 fwy (7” cutting) - found it on the side of the 10 fwy near downtown los angeles. a large tree had several branches with varying degrees of variegation. figs are medium size, can be slightly variegated and produce a decent amount of pollen. not sure about how many crops it has or the differences between them since i haven’t grown it that long. no idea if its parthenocarpic.

ficus coronata (rooted cutting) - small to medium australian sandpaper tree with small figs. im relatively certain that mine is parthenocarpic since its figs mature and develop anthers. haven’t tested its graft compatibility with carica.

ficus ischnopoda (rooted cutting) - small scrambler from india to malaysia that grows near streams (rheophyte) in lightly shaded areas. small male figs drop before forming anthers so i’m certain its not parthenocarpic. same subgenus as carica (ficus). haven’t tested its graft compatibility with carica but i’m certain its compatible, since it looks very similar to my ficus formosana which is compatible with carica.

ficus johannis hybrid (7” cutting) - purchased this from a reputable source as ficus silverlyre, which is female. when mine turned out to be male i was initially disappointed so i started calling it silverliar. however, now i’m happy its male since its small figs have been my most consistent source of pollen. relatively slow grower on its own roots, not easy to root from cuttings, so i’d highly suggest grafting onto a big carica rootstock.

ficus palmata hybrid 10 fwy (rooted cutting) - another male fig i discovered on the side of the 10 fwy near downtown los angeles. no idea if its truly a palmata hybrid but so far its the only wild fig i’ve found with consistently spade shape leaves. the only other possibility is ficus carica subsp. rupestris which i’d love to get my hands on. since i’ve only started to grow this wild male tree recently i can’t say much about it, other than the figs are medium size and at least one crop has produced a decent amount of pollen. no idea if its parthenocarpic.

species (small seedlings)

ficus austrocaledonica - this is the only ficus i have in the subgenus pharmacosycea, which only contains monoecious species. this species is a small tree from new caledonia and southern vanuatu that prefers some shade and produces cherry size fruit that are sweet, in theory. according to google search ai, this species is even more distantly related to carica than urostigma is, so its unlikely to be graft compatible with carica.

ficus exasperata - sandpaper species from india and africa that forms a medium to large tree that can be loaded with small to medium fruits. guessing it prefers consistent moisture. last august i grafted a tiny scion onto a carica in a 15 gallon. the scion took but so far it hasn’t grown much. then again its competing with a strongly growing scion of ficus fraseri x carica.

ficus gasparriniana - small shrubby ficus with neat leaves from india to vietnam. prefers some shade and regular moisture. in the same subgenus as carica, so no surprise they are quite graft compatible. this is the only ficus i have that ripens and forms viable seeds without the help of a pollinator. when the small fruits are fully ripe they are sweet and a bit like banana (very generous description) but the seeds are so large and numerous that they distract from the experience.

ficus opposita - see hybrid description

ficus racemosa - see hybrid description

ficus septica - small to medium tree from taiwan to australia in the subgenus sycomorus. its smallish figs are sweet, at least according to youtube videos that i’ve seen. has been used as a rootstock for carica but in my very limited experience so far they are barely compatible.

ficus ulmifolia - see hybrid description

species (small rooted cuttings)

ficus auriculata - ornamental and edible dioecious species in the subgenus sycomorus. small to medium size tree with large leaves. produces large figs on leafless branches on its trunk. ranges from india to malaysia. figs taste pretty good, kinda like strawberry, but there’s quite a bit of variation in fruit quality. at least one variety is parthenocarpic. not graft compatible with carica. in theory these two species were crossed by researchers in israeli more than a decade ago. i say in theory because i haven’t seen any pics.

ficus cocculifolia - large tree with large cauliflorous figs from madagascar. in the subgenus sycomorus and seems quite graft compatible with carica. the trick is that since carica is deciduous, when cocculifolia is the rootstock it might be necessary to leave it with a branch or two to supply it roots with energy during the winter. this species was lumped under ficus sycomorus, which is not graft compatible with carica, so i prefer to keep them separate.

ficus fraseri - see hybrid description

misc

ficus carica fignomenal seedling (7” cutting) - the two seedlings i have from my fignomenal both seem to be dwarf, so this trait can be inherited. neither seedling has fruited yet and i’ve been meaning to graft them onto a larger rootstock.

ficus pumila x carica (small rooted cutting) - not sure if my cross is from one of condit’s originals or from a remake by his colleague william b. storey. form is somewhat intermediate between both parents, and it grows relatively well, but it is very reluctant to produce figs.

all the rooted plants that the winner will receive. male ficus palmata hybrid is in upper left. plants in 5 gallon pots will be shipped bareroot unless winner prefers otherwise.

my hybrids (small seedlings)

the four hybrids. individual pics...

two different ficus ulmifolia hybrids. the one one the right has nice red petioles but its leaves are droopy even though the medium is moist.

one of the ficus racemosa x carica seedlings least suffering from inbreeding depression. very hard to part with.

ficus opposita x carica. here's what the seedling i grafted onto carica looks like...

most of the seedlings have leaves like spades.

ficus fraseri x carica (fracar) seedlings are have leaves more lobed than the ficus opposita x carica seedlings. here's what the fracar seedling i grafted onto carica looks like...

lovely lobes. the seedlings so far all have golden leaves. as opposed to yellow leaves. on the same rootstock i grafted ficus exasperata (bottom of photo) and ficus septica (can't see it). all 3 scions were around the same size and i grafted them around the same time.

male figs

this was the nicest variegated branch that i found on the 10 fwy caprifig. cut it and grafted it onto a 15 gallon fig tree from my generous local fig friend "figology".

the variegation is relatively stable, but i vigilantly inspect it for any all green shoots which i remove. the problem is that the new growth always emerges green. as the leaf matures, any variegation becomes apparent. so you shouldn't jump to the conclusion that an immature all green leaf won't become variegated. however, this same problem becomes rather fascinating in the opposite extreme... when a leaf matures to albino (all white)....

here you can see the different stages based on leaf maturity of a stem that has gone purely albino. generally its good practice to remove any albino stems because they are basically parasitic. but i'm not sure if this applies in this case since the leaves start as green and then gradually become white. this is the opposite of the florida ghost philodendron, which has leaves that emerge white and then gradually mature to green. the florida ghost can grow on its own, i'm not sure if this would be true of a california ghost carica. i should air-layer the stem and find out.

here's a different stem with the occasional spot of green...

here's a crop of figs that i harvested on 10 may...

a couple have very subtle variegation. they supplied a decent amount of pollen.

left: ficus gasparriniana and ficus palmata hybrid
middle: ficus coronata (male)
right: ficus cocculifolia

here's a coronata fig that i didn't try to pollinate...

compare it to this coronata fig that i did try to pollinate...

in both cases the anthers developed, but in the 2nd case they released pollen, and the flesh became pink. i'm not sure if this is a good comparison as there are numerous confounding factors such as the weather. in any case, the development of anthers is what i take to be a reliable sign that this particular coronata is parthenocarpic, given that this doesn't occur with my male ficus ischnopoda.

this is my male ficus johannis hybrid which i purchased as silverlyre but i refer to as silverliar. the figs...

cut open horizontally...

these are the ostiole halves, they contain the male flowers. the half in the upper left was a bit too old, and the one in the upper right was a bit too young. the rest were just right. the female flowers are located in the stem halves. the female flowers bloomed a while back and only contained emerging wasps, so i put the stem halves outside.

to help facilitate pollen release from the anthers i try to flatten the ostiole halves...