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Arboretum Home Page      Wayne's Word Arboretum Page      Plant Family List      Arboretum Maps  Ficus palmeri in Baja California Ficus palmeri in Baja California. Left: Bahia Juncalito south of Loreto. Right: Sierra de la Laguna north of San Jose del Cabo. Note the numerous surface roots speading outwardly in all directions. This same root pattern can be seen in the large Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla) near the San Diego Natural History Museum and in the Palomar College Arboretum.   Moreton Bay Fig In Palomar College Arboretum   Ficus palmeri in Baja California. Arroyo southwest of Loreto in foothills of Sierra de la Giganta. The gray trunk in left image appears to have melted and flowed down the steep rock face like an arboreal waterfall. Actually, adventitious (aerial) surface roots from the trunk grew down the canyon wall and fused together (anastomosed). The aerial roots of tropical banyans form pillar-like prop roots that support the massive, spreading limbs. In strangler figs of the rain forest the aerial roots wrap around host trees like botanical boa constrictors. Strangler Figs and Banyans Fig Species Of The Holy Land Cauliflory In Tropical Figs (Ficus) Evolution Of Dioecious Fig Species Summary Of Ficus carica Life Cycle Amazing Fig/Fig Wasp Relationship Calimyrna Fig & Its Pollinator Wasp Do Fig Wasps Induce Gall Formation?   Sex Determination Of The Common Fig   All images on this page copyright © W.P. Armstrong