Origin

For over a thousand years, Ficus has been growing in tropical and sub-tropical areas. They mainly appear in parts of Asia and Africa, but also in South-America and Australia. The real fig-tree (Ficus carica) was found in the Mediterranean area and has been cultivated since the ancient history. Though there are more fig-trees! Another well-known Ficus is the rubber tree (Ficus elastica). Did you know that in the earlier days, the latex of the Ficus elastica was the most important source extracting of latex from wich rubber was made? Nowadays, this variety is known only as an indoor plant. Most of the varieties we have as houseplants come from South-East Asia.

Species en sizes

Only a few plant genera have brought so many new species onto the market in the past few years. In most offices and living rooms we can find one or more Ficus-species. The species differ a lot from each other: from up-going trees and bushes up to hanging and climbing epiphytes and liana. Besides all diversity there are also a number of similarities such as inflorescence, fructification and latex.