Moreton Bay Fig - Alissa Duke

Moreton Bay Fig

I love to see these plants in Sydney parks, because they are magnificent AND because Moreton Bay is in the area of Queensland where I used to live. A little reminder fo home....

Ficus macrophylla is a medium to large, spreading tree 15 to 35 metres high with a similar spread. It often has a butressed trunk. The genus Ficus consists of about 800 species distributed throughout India, parts of Asia, the Pacific islands and Australia. There are about 40 Australian species most of which are found in tropical areas

The fruits are 20-25 mm in diameter, yellowish and turning purple when ripe. They occur on stalks from 10-20 mm long.

Moreton Bay fig makes an excellent, bushy plant for a large container but it should not be planted in the ground in a normal suburban environment. In the ground it develops into a tree with a vigorous root system - it is far too large for a suburban garden and can damage pavements and house foundations. It is an excellent shade tree for parks and larger properties and is widely used as a feature tree in parks and gardens around the world. (Source: Australian Native Plant Society http://anpsa.org.au/f-mac.html)

Royal Botanic Gardens Sketchabout, Sydney

Yesterday was the first day of the Sydney Royal Botanic Garden Sketchabout, where all of Sydney is invited to come and sketch in the Gardens with us .

The gardens cover 30 hectares in a spectacular setting in Sydney, right next to the CBD. It was established n 1816 and has a huge variety of plants and trees. Our little bit if nature in the middle of the city!!!

Sketchabout is happening each Satuday afternoon for the next six weeks as part of their Autumn of the Arts festival. We are encouraging people who attended to upload their drawings to the blog

We had over 40 people turn out on a beautiful sunny afternoon. After an welcome by Kerry from the RBG , Liz Steel gave an introduction and then we spread out through the Gardens, meeting up at 3pm to share sketchbooks and experiences. This is the first time that this has been held and we were very unsure as to how it would go. But the day was fantastic . It was especially wonderful to see the sketchers all chatting amongst themselves and members of the public at the end. Everyone found different parts and things in the Gardens to draw and explore - and that was what the Gardens wanted to achieve.

As I was involved in the event, I spent a lot of the time chatting to sketchers, but managed to draw a Moreton Bay Fig and also the fruits of the same tree. These were on the ground around me. They are eaten (half eaten) by the fruit bats that live in the gardens .

Moreton Bag Fig: Ficus macrophylla. Large spreading tree, epiphytic and strangling in early stages, trunks becoming massive with large buttresses. Distribution and occurrence: In coastal rainforest of all types,NSW Qld Vic

Looking forward to next week !!