PlantFiles: Banana-leaf Ficus, Fig
Ficus maclellandii 'Alii'

I bought this as a sad-looking unlabelled plant on clearance sale at Wal-Mart 5 years ago. I knew it was a Ficus, but until recently was not sure what species, but it certainly seems to fit this one. I was not sure how hardy it would be, but it seems to love our new "global warming" Sebring Zone 10a climate. Had I known how well it would do I would not have planted it so close to the house!

I purchased the Ficus "Alii" 5 years ago at a S. Florida nursery as a braided house plant. It remained in a north facing porch for years, untill I moved to Windermere, FL. Since installing this tree in my landscape, it has grown from 4' to over 20' in less than 2 years. This tree has blown me away with its vigor and quality of new growth. It has already obrained a 3' spread of arial roots to the ground, with more to follow this spring. Even with a cold snap of 35, NO leaf damage was shown, and the growth still looks the same. This is an excellent addition to a warm, sunny, and open area of your landscape.

This variety of ficus is most often found as a house plant, but is rarer than the standard ficus benjamina that is so often sold as a house plant. Although, I have seen pictures of it on the web as an outdoor plant in the right zone. As a house plant, like all ficus it's easy, but I've found that it does require more light than ficus benjamina. It will only grow to about 6 ft. if pot bound and indoors. If your lucky enough to live in the right climate, I've seen pictures of theses getting about 20 feet tall, with beautifully gnarled trucks. I summer mine outdoors and I live in a desert enviromemnt. So, it can take low humidity without any adverse effects.

This ficus is very easy to grow. I have not encountered any pest problems at all. Mine withstood a move cross country with only a couple of lost leaves. Cuttings root very easily in water. In the fall, the tree may lose some leaves, but this is normal, and it still looks full and beautiful all year. I have mine in a corner with windows facing North and West. It does not get direct sun. I had it in an eastern window, where it got several hours of direct sun, and it did great there, too.