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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Moreton Bay Fig
| image = Moretonbayfigfrom1850.JPG
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = ''Ficus macrophylla'' (Moreton Bay Fig)
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Urticales]]
| familia = [[Moraceae]]
| genus = ''[[Ficus]]''
| species = '''''F. macrophylla'''''
| binomial = ''Ficus macrophylla''
| binomial_authority = [[René Louiche Desfontaines|Desf.]] ex [[Christian Hendrik Persoon|Pers.]]
}}
The '''Moreton Bay Fig''' ''Ficus macrophylla'', is a large evergreen [[banyan]]. Named after [[Moreton Bay]] in [[Queensland]], [[Australia]], it is a native of most of the eastern coast, from the [[Atherton Tableland]] in the north to the [[Illawarra]] in [[New South Wales]].
==Description==
[[Image:Ficus_macrophylla017.jpg|thumb|left]]The Moreton Bay Fig grows to over 60 m (200 ft) tall in its native environment. It has large, elliptic, leathery, dark green leaves and produces a [barely] edible fruit similar to the common [[Fig]], ''Ficus carica''.
The characteristic "melting" appearance of the Moreton Bay fig is due to its habit of dropping [[aerial root]]s from its branches which on reaching the ground thicken into supplementary trunks which help to support the great weight of its crown.
It is a rainforest plant and in this environment more often grows in the form of an [[epiphytic]] strangler vine than that of a tree. When its seeds land in the branch of a host tree it sends aerial, 'strangler' roots down the host trunk, eventually killing the host and standing alone.
Its roots are surface feeding and it is therefore quite susceptible to the compacting of earth around its trunk, which is why in many parks and gardens these trees are fenced off. It is water hungry and like many Australian trees should not be planted in urban environments where its roots may damage piping, nor in areas where water is scarce.
==A potentially invasive species==
[[Image:MoretonBayNaturalisedNZ.jpg|thumb|left|A young Moreton Bay Fig starts life as an epiphyte in an [[Auckland]], New Zealand park]]''Ficus macrophylla'' is commonly cultivated in [[Hawaii]] and in northern [[New Zealand]]. In both places, it has now naturalised, having acquired its pollinating wasp (''[[Pleistodontes froggatti]]''). In Hawaii the wasp was deliberately introduced in 1921, and in New Zealand it was first recorded in 1993, having apparently arrived by long-distance dispersal from Australia. The arrival of the wasp led to prolific production of fruits containing many small seeds adapted for dispersal by birds. The Moreton Bay Fig has been found growing on both native and introduced trees in New Zealand and in Hawaii. The size and vigour of this fig in New Zealand, and its lack of natural enemies, as well as its immunity to [[Common Brushtail Possum|possum]] browsing, indicate that it may be able to invade forest and other native plant communities. (Gardner and Early 1996; Starr et al., 2003).
==References==
[[Image:Ficus macrophylla011.jpg|thumb|right|''Ficus macrophylla''<br />[[Orto botanico di Palermo]]]]
*George, A. S. ''Flora of Australia'', CSIRO Publishing, 1980. ISBN 0-643-05702-1
*Starr F, Starr K, and Loope L. [http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/reports/pdf/ficus_macrophylla.pdf ''Ficus macrophylla - Moreton bay fig - Moraceae''] United States Geological Survey--Biological Resources Division Haleakala Field Station, Maui, Hawai'i, 2003.
*Jousselin E., Rasplus J. and Kjellberg F. [http://www.cefe.cnrs.fr/coev/pdf-FK/Jousselin%20et%20al1.%202003%20Evolution.pdf ''Convergence and coevolution in a mutualism: evidence from a molecular phylogeny of Ficus'']. Evolution, 57(6), 2003, pp. 1255–1269
*Dixon, D. J. 2001. [http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/150/paper/SB99026.htm ''Figs, wasps and species concepts: a re-evaluation of the infraspecific taxa of Ficus macrophylla (Moraceae: Urostigma sect. Malvanthera)'']. Austral. Syst. Bot. 14:125–132.
*Gardner R.O., Early J.W. [http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjb/1996/115.php ''The naturalisation of banyan figs (Ficus spp., Moraceae) and their pollinating wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) in New Zealand''] New Zealand Journal of Botany, 1996, Vol. 34: 103-110
== External links ==
* [http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?id=853 The Santa Barbara Fig Tree]
*[http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/images/thumbnails/html/ficus_macrophylla.htm ''Ficus macrophylla'' - Gallery ]<nowiki>{{PD}}</nowiki>
* [http://www.hear.org/pier/species/ficus_macrophylla.htm Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER): ''Ficus macrophylla'']
* [http://www.ntbg.org/plants/plantresource_new3.php?rid=470&focus=8 National Tropical Botanical Garden: ''Ficus macrophylla'']
* {{es}} [http://www.arbolesornamentales.com/Ficusmacrophylla.htm Arboles ornamentales: ''Ficus macrophylla'' Desf. ex Pers. ]
{{Commons|Ficus macrophylla}}
== See also ==
* [[Port Jackson Fig]]
[[Category:Ficus|Fig, Moreton Bay]]
[[Category:Flora of Lord Howe Island]]
[[Category:Flora of New South Wales]]
[[Category:Flora of Australia]]
[[Category:Trees of Australia]]
| color = lightgreen
| name = Moreton Bay Fig
| image = Moretonbayfigfrom1850.JPG
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = ''Ficus macrophylla'' (Moreton Bay Fig)
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Urticales]]
| familia = [[Moraceae]]
| genus = ''[[Ficus]]''
| species = '''''F. macrophylla'''''
| binomial = ''Ficus macrophylla''
| binomial_authority = [[René Louiche Desfontaines|Desf.]] ex [[Christian Hendrik Persoon|Pers.]]
}}
The '''Moreton Bay Fig''' ''Ficus macrophylla'', is a large evergreen [[banyan]]. Named after [[Moreton Bay]] in [[Queensland]], [[Australia]], it is a native of most of the eastern coast, from the [[Atherton Tableland]] in the north to the [[Illawarra]] in [[New South Wales]].
==Description==
[[Image:Ficus_macrophylla017.jpg|thumb|left]]The Moreton Bay Fig grows to over 60 m (200 ft) tall in its native environment. It has large, elliptic, leathery, dark green leaves and produces a [barely] edible fruit similar to the common [[Fig]], ''Ficus carica''.
The characteristic "melting" appearance of the Moreton Bay fig is due to its habit of dropping [[aerial root]]s from its branches which on reaching the ground thicken into supplementary trunks which help to support the great weight of its crown.
It is a rainforest plant and in this environment more often grows in the form of an [[epiphytic]] strangler vine than that of a tree. When its seeds land in the branch of a host tree it sends aerial, 'strangler' roots down the host trunk, eventually killing the host and standing alone.
Its roots are surface feeding and it is therefore quite susceptible to the compacting of earth around its trunk, which is why in many parks and gardens these trees are fenced off. It is water hungry and like many Australian trees should not be planted in urban environments where its roots may damage piping, nor in areas where water is scarce.
==A potentially invasive species==
[[Image:MoretonBayNaturalisedNZ.jpg|thumb|left|A young Moreton Bay Fig starts life as an epiphyte in an [[Auckland]], New Zealand park]]''Ficus macrophylla'' is commonly cultivated in [[Hawaii]] and in northern [[New Zealand]]. In both places, it has now naturalised, having acquired its pollinating wasp (''[[Pleistodontes froggatti]]''). In Hawaii the wasp was deliberately introduced in 1921, and in New Zealand it was first recorded in 1993, having apparently arrived by long-distance dispersal from Australia. The arrival of the wasp led to prolific production of fruits containing many small seeds adapted for dispersal by birds. The Moreton Bay Fig has been found growing on both native and introduced trees in New Zealand and in Hawaii. The size and vigour of this fig in New Zealand, and its lack of natural enemies, as well as its immunity to [[Common Brushtail Possum|possum]] browsing, indicate that it may be able to invade forest and other native plant communities. (Gardner and Early 1996; Starr et al., 2003).
==References==
[[Image:Ficus macrophylla011.jpg|thumb|right|''Ficus macrophylla''<br />[[Orto botanico di Palermo]]]]
*George, A. S. ''Flora of Australia'', CSIRO Publishing, 1980. ISBN 0-643-05702-1
*Starr F, Starr K, and Loope L. [http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/reports/pdf/ficus_macrophylla.pdf ''Ficus macrophylla - Moreton bay fig - Moraceae''] United States Geological Survey--Biological Resources Division Haleakala Field Station, Maui, Hawai'i, 2003.
*Jousselin E., Rasplus J. and Kjellberg F. [http://www.cefe.cnrs.fr/coev/pdf-FK/Jousselin%20et%20al1.%202003%20Evolution.pdf ''Convergence and coevolution in a mutualism: evidence from a molecular phylogeny of Ficus'']. Evolution, 57(6), 2003, pp. 1255–1269
*Dixon, D. J. 2001. [http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/150/paper/SB99026.htm ''Figs, wasps and species concepts: a re-evaluation of the infraspecific taxa of Ficus macrophylla (Moraceae: Urostigma sect. Malvanthera)'']. Austral. Syst. Bot. 14:125–132.
*Gardner R.O., Early J.W. [http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjb/1996/115.php ''The naturalisation of banyan figs (Ficus spp., Moraceae) and their pollinating wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) in New Zealand''] New Zealand Journal of Botany, 1996, Vol. 34: 103-110
== External links ==
* [http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?id=853 The Santa Barbara Fig Tree]
*[http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/images/thumbnails/html/ficus_macrophylla.htm ''Ficus macrophylla'' - Gallery ]<nowiki>{{PD}}</nowiki>
* [http://www.hear.org/pier/species/ficus_macrophylla.htm Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER): ''Ficus macrophylla'']
* [http://www.ntbg.org/plants/plantresource_new3.php?rid=470&focus=8 National Tropical Botanical Garden: ''Ficus macrophylla'']
* {{es}} [http://www.arbolesornamentales.com/Ficusmacrophylla.htm Arboles ornamentales: ''Ficus macrophylla'' Desf. ex Pers. ]
{{Commons|Ficus macrophylla}}
== See also ==
* [[Port Jackson Fig]]
[[Category:Ficus|Fig, Moreton Bay]]
[[Category:Flora of Lord Howe Island]]
[[Category:Flora of New South Wales]]
[[Category:Flora of Australia]]
[[Category:Trees of Australia]]