"Sacha" wrote in message
Nice to be home but returning with a query. In a small public park in
Devonport near Auckland, NZ, we saw a tree that is entirely new to us
called
(I think) Morton Bay fig. This seems to be Ficus macrophylla but is this
the same tree? Can any Kiwis confirm that ID? We were told it's
ornamental
and the fruit is eaten only by monkeys in its original home of.....?! The
leaves look similar to some form of Magnolia and Ray heard someone tell
his
friends that's what it is - but it isn't. Is it? ;-))

If the fruit is eaten by monkeys, then I doubt that it would be a Moreton
Bay Fig (note spelling of Moreton) because there are no monkeys in Australia
(at least not the non human type monkeys).

The Moreton Bay Fig gets it's name from the bay in Brisbane. It's
humungeous. The fruit is edible apparently and was bush tucker for
Aboringinals. Don't bother going here unless you're really keen as I'll
retype what it says (
http://72.14.235.132/search?q=cache:...lnk&cd=8&gl=au )

"Moreton Bay fig (ficus macrophylla and Port Jackson Fig (Ficus
rubiginosa) - fruit eaten when ripe, milky sap used to cover wounds, while
the bark was used to produce string for dillybags and nets, the wood was
used for shields and canoes."

There are other edible figs such as the Sandpaper fig, the Rock fig, etc.

What did it look like?

On 17/12/08 03:12, in article
, "FarmI"
ask@itshall be given wrote:

"Sacha" wrote in message
Nice to be home but returning with a query. In a small public park in
Devonport near Auckland, NZ, we saw a tree that is entirely new to us
called
(I think) Morton Bay fig. This seems to be Ficus macrophylla but is this
the same tree? Can any Kiwis confirm that ID? We were told it's
ornamental
and the fruit is eaten only by monkeys in its original home of.....?! The
leaves look similar to some form of Magnolia and Ray heard someone tell
his
friends that's what it is - but it isn't. Is it? ;-))

If the fruit is eaten by monkeys, then I doubt that it would be a Moreton
Bay Fig (note spelling of Moreton) because there are no monkeys in Australia
(at least not the non human type monkeys).

The woman that owned the last place we stayed in is English but has lived in
NZ for about 20 years. In the 'helpful literature' booklet she called it
that. I can't remember if it was she who said the bit about the monkeys or
someone else living in Devonport.

The Moreton Bay Fig gets it's name from the bay in Brisbane. It's
humungeous. The fruit is edible apparently and was bush tucker for
Aboringinals. Don't bother going here unless you're really keen as I'll
retype what it says (
http://72.14.235.132/search?q=cache:...e.edu.au/schoo
l/curric/stage4_5/nativeplants/native_plants.ppt+%22ficus+rubiginosa%22+fruit&
hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=au )

Thanks for all that! I had no idea how many of those things had some food
or medicinal value.

"Moreton Bay fig (ficus macrophylla and Port Jackson Fig (Ficus
rubiginosa) - fruit eaten when ripe, milky sap used to cover wounds, while
the bark was used to produce string for dillybags and nets, the wood was
used for shields and canoes."

There are other edible figs such as the Sandpaper fig, the Rock fig, etc.

What did it look like?



Here are 3 pics Ray took:

http://i43.tinypic.com/211q5qb.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/14k9oit.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/1zqeet3.jpg

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
(new website online)

"Sacha" wrote in message 01.iinet.net.au,
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

What did it look like?

Here are 3 pics Ray took:

http://i43.tinypic.com/211q5qb.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/14k9oit.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/1zqeet3.jpg

You might also try posting those pics to the aus.gardens group and asking
there.

As the first pic was downloading, there was a lot of detail of the trunk and
there was a section of the trunk that had that flowing aerial root
downdrooping strangler look to it that some of the fig family has and in
fact one of the Moreton Bay forms IIRC.

I don't know much about figs as they won't grow in my area but some of the
Oz groups people do live in hotter climes and one of them is very
knowledegable about all things plant related so it might be worth your while
asking there.

On 17/12/08 23:28, in article
, "FarmI"
ask@itshall be given wrote:

"Sacha" wrote in message 01.iinet.net.au,
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

What did it look like?

Here are 3 pics Ray took:

http://i43.tinypic.com/211q5qb.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/14k9oit.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/1zqeet3.jpg

You might also try posting those pics to the aus.gardens group and asking
there.

As the first pic was downloading, there was a lot of detail of the trunk and
there was a section of the trunk that had that flowing aerial root
downdrooping strangler look to it that some of the fig family has and in
fact one of the Moreton Bay forms IIRC.

I don't know much about figs as they won't grow in my area but some of the
Oz groups people do live in hotter climes and one of them is very
knowledegable about all things plant related so it might be worth your while
asking there.



Thanks for all that. I'm not going to bother them because the people living
around there were content that this is what this tree is and because we're
not likely to grow it in the garden here! What struck us at first was the
similarity to its leaves and some magnolia types. It's a beautiful tree and
the size of these was amazing. I imagine its growth in UK would be a bit
like that of Callistemons - in NZ we saw specimens of those that were at
least 15 to 20 feet tall. For a second or three I didn't quite realise what
I was looking at! And as for the lupins........we're told they're
pestiferous weeds there but when you see yellow tree lupins growing wild on
the side of the roads for miles and miles and drive past 3 miles of valley
filled with Russell lupins of every hue it's hard to think of them as
anything but a glory. Their scent filled our car and we were enchanted by
them. And then there's the Cytisus which has run mad everywhere and the dog
roses, too. What a wonderful place!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
(new website online)

Just had a look at the pics Sacha. While No.2 shows what appears to
be typical Ficus macrophylla trunk and 'butressing', the foliage and
fruits in No.3 are not F. macrophylla. I've had a ferret about and
found this pic of typical fruiting macrophylla material:
http://plantarium.files.wordpress.co...acrophylla.jpg
You can see that foliage and fruits are significantly different. I
don't know what No.3 is, but I do know it isn't Ficus macrophylla.

On 19/12/08 01:20, in article
, "Dave
Poole" wrote:

Just had a look at the pics Sacha. While No.2 shows what appears to
be typical Ficus macrophylla trunk and 'butressing', the foliage and
fruits in No.3 are not F. macrophylla. I've had a ferret about and
found this pic of typical fruiting macrophylla material:
http://plantarium.files.wordpress.co...acrophylla.jpg
You can see that foliage and fruits are significantly different. I
don't know what No.3 is, but I do know it isn't Ficus macrophylla.


Thanks, David, though the mystery deepens! Perhaps someone from Australia
or NZ will see this.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
(new website online)

On 19/12/08 11:50, in article ,
"Sacha" wrote:

On 19/12/08 01:20, in article
, "Dave
Poole" wrote:

Just had a look at the pics Sacha. While No.2 shows what appears to
be typical Ficus macrophylla trunk and 'butressing', the foliage and
fruits in No.3 are not F. macrophylla. I've had a ferret about and
found this pic of typical fruiting macrophylla material:
http://plantarium.files.wordpress.co...acrophylla.jpg
You can see that foliage and fruits are significantly different. I
don't know what No.3 is, but I do know it isn't Ficus macrophylla.


Thanks, David, though the mystery deepens! Perhaps someone from Australia
or NZ will see this.

Many apologies, I've just realised that the fruit pic is NOT the one Ray
took of the Moreton Bay figs! It was a hedge of some sort down on King
Edward Parade in Devonport, right outside the sailing club, just in case
that helps anyone to ID it We took hundreds of photos of various things and
I've muddled those up! The fruits we saw on the Moreton Bay Fig are exactly
as your pic shows them. Now all I need to find out is what those
'incorrect' fruits really are!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
(new website online)