Ficus burtt-davyi
Ficus burtt-davyi is a small-leaved fig from the coastal and inland forests of South Africa's southern and eastern coast and southern Mozambique. Depending on where it grows it can be a dune-thicket shrub, a strangler or liana in forest, a rock-splitter on cliffs, or a free-standing tree up to 20 m. It tolerates drought and salt, and is a favourite with bonsai growers. It wants bright light, mild subtropical temperatures and free-draining soil.
Where it grows wild
It often starts as an epiphyte in branch forks where debris collects, then sends roots down to the soil. In the southern and eastern Cape forests it becomes a strangler or liana. On rocky outcrops and cliffs it splits the rock. On coastal dunes in the north of its range, salt-tolerant forms make low thickets on woodland margins. Herbarium labels add dune forest, valley bush, ravines, stream banks and coastal bush in full sun on well-drained loamy sand.
It ranges from sea level to about 1500 m in inland forests. The few GBIF records with an elevation are all coastal, at 7–60 m.
🔒 Growing it like that
The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:
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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.