Ficus elastica Roxb. ex Hornem., 1819.

Verloove, Filip, 2021, New records in vascular plants alien to Tenerife (Spain, Canary Islands), Biodiversity Data Journal 9, pp. 62878-62878 : 62878

Ficus elastica Roxb. ex Hornem., 1819.

Ficus elastica Suppl. Hort. bot. hafn. 7. 1819.

Distribution

TENERIFE: Arona, Chayofa, barranco de la Arena S of the village, dry riverbed, a single large clone, 16.03.2016, F. Verloove 12457 (BR). https://observation.org/observation/205285557/

Notes

Ficus elastica is native in south-eastern Asia, but one of the most frequently cultivated species of the genus. It has large, glabrous and leathery leaves and reddish stipules, 10-15 cm long that cover the terminal buds. In Chayofa, a single large clone is growing in a dried-out ravine (Fig. 5 ), probably from washed-up rhizomes or garden debris.

Several species of Ficus have been recorded in the wild in the Canary Islands, especially F. microcarpa and (to a lesser extent) F. lyrata and F. rubiginosa and these are increasing lately. F. elastica is reported here for the first time. Despite being commonly grown, it is only rarely observed as an escape, for instance, in Florida in the United States ( Wunderlin 1997). In some areas, it has naturalised or even become invasive, although this entirely depends on whether its specialist pollinator wasp has also been introduced to the area ( Starr et al. 2003).

Figures

Figure 5. Ficus elastica, Arona (Chayofa), March 2016.