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Ficus sur

Broom cluster fig

The broom cluster fig or Cape fig is a fast-growing African fig tree that bears large clusters of figs directly on the trunk and main branches. It ranges from Senegal and Cape Verde to Yemen and south to South Africa, mainly along rivers, in forest margins and in well-watered woodland, from the coast up to about 2500 m. Indoors or in a pot it needs strong light, warmth, steady moisture and room to grow, and it can drop its leaves briefly in a cool or dry spell.

Ficus sur
Photo: JMK, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Dry airBand in Plantistry
Light Full sunDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

A tree of riverine and gallery forest, forest margins, moist wooded ravines and well-watered grassy woodland; it is absent from the dry interior of southern Africa. It is usually 5–12 m tall but can reach 35–40 m, and it is deciduous or evergreen depending on local climate. Its figs are pollinated by Ceratosolen fig wasps.

Mostly coastal in the cooler south of its range but up to about 2500 m in warm tropical interiors. The 68 records with an elevation span 12–2698 m (median 1244 m); the measured climate sites are all low (15–294 m) in KwaZulu-Natal and around Cape Town.

West AfricaCentral AfricaEast AfricaNortheast AfricaSouthern AfricaYemenCape Verde

🔒 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

Grow Ficus sur? Add it to a free garden and its full profile opens. Pro opens all 38,374 profiles in the library, plants and fungi.

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.