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Species library › Ficus › Ficus laurifolia
Other Little published: much of this is inferred from related species

Ficus laurifolia

A widespread tropical African fig that starts life as an epiphyte (a hemiepiphyte) and becomes a shrub, liana or tree up to about 25 m, with large, broad leaves up to 30 cm long and white latex. It grows at forest edges, in gallery forest, secondary growth and savanna woodland from Guinea-Bissau to Sudan and south to Mozambique. Kept in a pot it behaves like other large-leaved figs: warm, bright and fairly forgiving.

Ficus laurifolia
Photo: Agnieszka Kwiecień, Nova, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal rest

Where it grows wild

Forest edges and fringes, gallery forest along rivers, secondary forest and farm bush, thickets and savanna or miombo woodland, often on disturbed ground and roadsides. Specimen notes also mention coastal forest edge, swampy forest and thin soil on steep, humid slopes.

Recorded elevations are 4–1900 m, median 560 m (76 records); the highest records come from coffee forest in Ethiopia and highlands in East Africa.

West Africa: Senegal and Guinea-Bissau to NigeriaCentral Africa: Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, DR Congo, Central African Republic, AngolaNortheast Africa: Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, EritreaEast and southern Africa: Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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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 4.0 licence, unmodified.